Step increases: The built-in yearly raise for teachers

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Step increases: The built-in yearly raise for teachers

Written by John Szozda

Friday, 22 October 2010 08:42

Toledo, Oregon, Lake, Woodmore and Genoa schools are all on the ballot in two weeks.

Now that The Great Recession is officially over, they think you have more to give.

Let’s look at one—Oregon City Schools.

Superintendent Mike Zalar and the board have eliminated 50 staff positions and cut more than $7 million in costs. Teachers have agreed to a one-year wage freeze. Zalar states in his Guest Editorial that the district is spending less than it did in the 2005-06 school year.

That’s commendable.

But, is it enough?

That’s for the voter to decide. Oregon’s emergency request is for 5.9 mills, which would bring in $3.4 million annually. That would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $182 a year.

The majority of this new money, as is the case in most districts, will go to raises for teachers, administrators and non-classified personnel. This request comes at a time when the median household income in Toledo between 2000 and 2008 dropped from $51,998 to $44,548, according to a recent study by the Brookings Institute. This 14.3 percent decline was the third largest among the top metro areas in the nation. Oregon is not Toledo, but The Big Recession has also affected its residents. Consider, in 2009, the City of Oregon collected $3.3 million less in income tax compared to 2008. That represents nearly $148 million in lost wages. Granted, some of this can be attributed to the loss of construction projects at the refineries, but a good portion of can be attributed to unemployment and underemployment.

To their credit, Oregon teachers agreed to a wage freeze on their step increases for this year. This is a true salary freeze. For example, a 27-year-old teacher with just a Bachelor’s degree and five years experience would make $41,434, the same as last year, according to the salary schedule.

This is not how it always works.

When you hear that teachers will forgo a raise, you think the same rules that apply in the private sector apply in the educational world. No raise means you make the same as last year. But, you would be wrong. Raise or not, teachers typically get step increases.

You may think these step increases are for doing something. You would be wrong. They are for being there. You could be a good teacher or a bad teacher, doesn’t matter, you get the step increase. In the private sector, we used to call such raises seniority raises or cost of living raises. These have long since been replaced by merit raises or profit-sharing. But, in the educational world, these steps are not indexed into the cost of living. They range from 4.6 percent in the second year to 3.1 percent in the 13th year (See chart).

The step raises are frozen for teachers with 13 years experience who don’t further their education. That’s a good thing. It encourages teachers to update their education. And, when they do, there is a reward. Step increases for teachers with a Master’s Degree range from 5.3 in the second year to 3.1 in the 25th year. There are no step freezes.

So, to put this in perspective, when you may have taken a pay cut of five to 10 percent in 2008 or 2009 because of the recession, teachers, as well as administrators too, were probably getting pay raises from 4.6 to 3.1 percent. But, they didn’t call them raises.

Sometimes, these step increases allow the district to pay their teachers more even though you think they are paid less. For example, Toledo teachers took a one percent pay cut this year. For those who hold a Bachelor’s degree and less than four years experience, this was a true pay cut. Their salary of $35,313 was reduced by $353. However, a teacher with more than four years seniority starts receiving step increases. So, a one percent cut actually works out to be a $721 raise.

Oregon administrators have their own step increases. Their average pay is $96,837. The principal at Clay earns $103, 582. This compares to the principal at Waite who earns $87,147. Both schools are about the same size.

Superintendent Zalar also says the school system has cut $7 million from the budget in the past few years. Here’s a look at the last six years actual revenue, according to treasurer Jane Fruth:

2008-09 -- $39.6 million

2007-08 -- $39.0 million

2006-07 -- $40.2 million

2005-06 -- $40.5 million

2004-05 -- $36.5 million

2003-04 -- $34.3 million

The increase from 03-04 to 04-05 was 6.5 percent and from 04-05 to 05-06 it was 11 percent. Residents should be thankful the board is trying to put the brakes on this freight train, because Oregon, as well as similar districts with heavy industry, will particularly feel the financial pain in 2013 when the state is expected to decrease funding.

This should not be a race to the bottom with the private sector voting down every levy in an effort to lower teacher pay. However, almost every public institution—the feds, the state, the cities and the schools—wants or will want more money from us. This is unsustainable. There will soon come a point when the plea “do it for the kids” doesn’t sway enough voters anymore. That could come this November.