Teachers propose pay scale without complex index system
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The initial raise package proposed by the School Board provided $2,500 per bachelor-level teacher and $2,000 for every master?s level, while MA+30, (master?s with 30 extra semester hours education), EDS and doctorate level teachers would receive only a 2 percent raise funded by the state.
The 2 percent state-funded raise will also cover a portion of the lower level raises, with the balance to come from local funds. The package was estimated to cost around $840,000, half of which County Commissioners voted to fund with capital outlay notes in a controversial move to avoid raising property taxes in the 2006-2007 budget.
Though WCEA officials say they haven?t officially rejected the initial raise package, and still consider it to be on the table, they have come up with two counterproposals, either of which they say would provide a more equitable across-the-board raise for local teachers.
According to WCEA president Sheila Gann, the main problem is that the current package leaves out the higher level teachers. However, School Board officials say that with the step raises for higher level teachers, along with the fact the 2 percent state raise will result in a comparatively greater increase because of the higher salary of these employees, the raises would come out to be pretty close to the $2,000 across-the-board raise the WCEA is seeking, according to director of schools Dr. Jerry Hale.
?Some of those teachers will get anywhere from $1,700 to $2,100 based on step raises and the 2 percent state raise,? Hale said. ?So the teachers that are saying they are left out, that?s not correct.?
Hale said the School Board has made it clear from the beginning they are trying to raise the salaries at the lower end of the salary schedule in order to attract new teachers.
The newest counterproposal from the WCEA is basically a revamping of the entire current salary schedule, which is governed by what is called an index system. The index, which was put into place around 18 years ago, is a complex system of ratings based mainly on educational level and years of experience.
This system gives teachers a rating of 1.0 to 3.0 for local raises, with 1.0 being a bachelor?s degree and no experience, and 3.0 being a doctorate and 25 years of experience. Over the years this system has become unwieldy and the school system has been requesting it be dropped for some time. This goal now looks as if it might be achieved, since the WCEA has stated it would be willing to drop it if the School Board adopts the newly revamped salary schedule.
The new counterproposal is designed to even out the salary schedule across the board, according to Gann, and should alleviate some of the problems with the index system.
Since the new salary schedule involves a complex series of calculations based on the current proposed raise package from the school system, Holland said the School Board would have to have time to see how it compared with the raise package the system is offering. However, Holland did indicate he was encouraged that the WCEA seemed willing to drop the index system if this system was adopted, and therefore it did deserve a serious look.
With only a few days to review the proposal Hale said Monday it was hard to tell how it matched up with the School Board?s raise package. Hale did say the board looked favorably on the idea of dropping the index system.
?That was one of the board?s original proposals was to drop the index,? Hale said, ?to make raises more equal across the board in the beginning.?
Currently Hale said the board has not made any kind of decision on this new proposal.
The Negotiations Committee will be meeting again with the WCEA to address the second counterproposal and will announce their decision at that time.