Let's start simple...what is this "grid" of which we speak?
It's the magic chart of teacher salary structure. What's magic about it is that the way contracts are written (and this is true for ALL school districts), each year of experience allows the teacher to move one complete "step" down the grid...which translates to a 3% salary increase. And that assumes ZERO change (i.e., general wage increase) to the grid.
The Magic of STEP increases
The real magic is what happens when a school board agrees to pay raises to teachers. Let's say the board agrees to a 2% pay raise. That means that each "cell" on the grid is increased by 2%. BUT...and here's the best part....they STILL get that automatic 3% increase by virtue of earning another year of experience. And what's really, really cool is that the district and board can say---somewhat truthfully---"We negotiated firmly and offered a 2% increase". This explains the old joke, "How do you know a politician is lying to you?" Answer: Because their lips are moving.
What they DON'T tell you, and which you'll only find out if you follow the budget or at property tax bill time, is any general wage increase and step increases are additive. Every teacher that stays in the district (for the next budget year) earns the 3% (step) increase PLUS the 2% (general wage) increase for a total of 5%. Of course some leave and new ones come in that aren't eligible for the the step increase because they haven't been HERE for a year. And that's how what is effectively a 5% increase becomes a 4.something% increase.
"For teachers, the grid provides automatic annual salary increases with no performance reviews, no salary negotiations, and no newspaper headlines reporting increased teacher pay..."
--- How Teachers Are Paid: The Salary Grid
Pretty skippy, ain't it?
One-of-a-Kind Deal
What other employee classification receives such a sweet deal? An automatic guaranteed 3% raise each year PLUS whatever the school board approves PLUS another 1.9% if you earn 6 continuing education credits.
Nobody...that's who.
Oh...many occupations have "grid systems"; one example being state employees. But for these, the grid is only used to determine initial salary upon hire. State employees ONLY get an increase when approved by the legislature and governor. Speaking of state employees, our governor has already declared --even though Act 10 allows annual increases up to the Consumer Price Index...that there will be NO increases for at least the next 2 years.
Does Act 10 Kill It Anyway?
Wisconsin Act 10 ties the maximum of any wage increases for "governmental" workers to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In that the CPI is highly variable, and could even be a negative number, then fixed grid increases would not be allowable anyway. Right? Certainly raises due to "lane" movement would have to disappear, as arguably Act 10 does not allow for such increases.
So...what do we need to do?
Raise the Floor...
Teachers...are you still listening?
We need to be able to hire good, qualified, energized, effective teachers. To do that, we need to offer a fair, competitive wage. And $32,500 is not it....even considering the fact that teachers work only 9 months per year (except summer school). That means the entry level wage is effectively $43,333. And please....cease with the arguments that you all work 12 months and nights and weekends. You know what...so do most professionals. Deal with it. The difference is that the average non-teacher professional works 260 calendar days per year, and you work like 190.
So let's just say, for argument's sake, a fair starting wage for a teacher is $50,000 equivalent (you know...based on 260 work days; 2080 hours per year). That would mean that we should raise the floor on our 9-month scale to about $37,500. And that would put about $400/month more in each teacher's pocket.
The problem is...how are we going to pay for that? For 580 teachers, that translates to about $3M in additional budget cost every year. In terms of property tax, that $3M would mean an additional $0.80 on the mill rate this year, or an additional $160 on a $200K home. How DO we pay for that?
Well, for one thing, we could have ALL employees pay 12.8% of health insurance premiums, like the rest of the (Wisconsin) world. We could do away with the "alternative health benefit" option which pays teachers whose spouses are teachers $300/month to NOT take the insurance. We also need to look at making dental benefits equivalent to what the rest of the world gets, and have everybody pay at least what Local 60 pays: 14.5% of premiums. That would put a dent in the $3M.
All those things would at least help to mitigate the additional cost. We don't profess to having all these answers, so we cannot offer a complete solution to getting there; but we at least offer what the endgame should be. Another selling point is that we would restore transparency to the budget process. No more would we be told "2%" when the actual salary budget would be increasing by closer to 5%. No more would school board members or administrators have to disingenuously wave their hands, hem and haw, and then declare that the difference is due to new teachers coming in.
"Through its nationwide salary initiative, NEA is advocating for:...But Establish a Reasonable Ceiling Too!
-- National Education Association (NEA)
- a $40,000 starting salary for all pre-K-12 teachers [SP-EYE: at 8 hours per day and 190 days/year, that translates to $26.32/hr, or $54,700/yr for those in the 2080 hr/yr world ]
- raises that exceed the cost of living in at least 50 percent of NEA higher education locals
- a minimum starting salary of $28,000 for all education support professionals" [SP-EYE: at 8 hours per day and 190 days/year, that translates to $18.42/hr , or $38,300/yr for those in the 2080 hr/yr world]
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| Is it really "all for the kids"? Or is it all for the administrators? |
"From an economic standpoint, the only general question relevant to teachers' pay is: what mix of salary, benefits, and other job dimensions are necessary to hire competent individual teachers? Since these vary across states, school districts, schools, and teachers' talents and competencies, there is no rational one-size-fits-all answer, such as the grid. "Now we just need a school board with sufficient cojones to make it so.
--- ParentAdvocates.org, "Teacher Salary Grid Hampers Education Reform
A final note for teachers...
Teachers...we support what you do...really. Truly. And, if we were in your shoes, we'd probably make the same arguments you do that you are overworked and underpaid. But inside, we'd also be a bit sheepish. We don't fault you for trying.
You should NOT have to pay for instructional materials out of your own pocket. But you also really do work only 9 months a year. Some have even glibly termed the month of November as "no-school" November because of all the days off. You have your summers free. You get a week off in the spring. You get more than a week off at Christmas. And you STILL earn additional leave time!
So we support what you do, but the game needs to change. You need to earn a fair wage, but you have no right to an exorbitant wage. Many of you start teaching right out of school at the age of what...22? 23? 24? Then you work 25-30 years. You're barely into your 50's and you retire with a damn fine salary: the average teacher in Sun Prairie over the past 5 years retires at a salary of $76,000. And that makes for a damn fine state retirement pension.
So we support you...but you need to work with the rest of us to fix this mess.
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