This table ranks the average classroom teacher salaries in Kentucky’s 173 school districts. Of Note: the Jefferson County Public Schools teachers get even higher average pay than the enormously funded Anchorage Independent School District provides.

Also of note is the enormous pay gap. While JCPS pays an average teacher $61,944, the tiny Augusta school system is only paying $41,743 on average. That’s a difference of more than $20,200!However, in the latest available 2015 testing results for 11th grade students in Kentucky with the ACT college entrance test, Augusta Independent posted a composite score of 20.2. Jefferson County only posted an ACT Composite Score of 18.8. The “bang for the buck” differential is amazing.

By the way, more information in the 2014-15 Kentucky School Report Cards databases shows that the combined free and reduced cost lunch eligibility in Augusta is 69.3 percent. The lunch eligibility rate in Jefferson County is 65.1 percent.

Oh, Yeah, the same report cards show per pupil spending in Jefferson County was $12,739 in 2014-15 while Augusta only got $10,956 per student.

NOW, who’s REALLY getting better bang for the buck?

Tech Notes:

Test score and school lunch data come from the Kentucky School Report Cards for Jefferson County and Augusta for 2014-15.The teacher salary data comes from the “Average Classroom Teacher Salaries (1989-2016)” report from the Kentucky Department of Education.