Teacher Pay Scales Becoming Hot Topic: Superintendents Dispute Effectiveness of Legislation

But some superintendents are not convinced that it represents any real change.

 

And former Louisiana public school teacher, Gary Stringer, is watching the educational moves in the state legislature. He’s interested in the possibility of instructor pay-scales being changed.

Stringer favors the idea of school districts being empowered to motivate teachers.  

“ If this becomes the law, school systems will have that opportunity, maybe, to obtain and retain better teachers, outstanding teachers and so on.”

 

 

But it’s difficult to know exactly how the bill will take effect, should it become law.

State Representative and Education Committee member, Jeff Thompson voted for the bill. He says the changes will not be uniformly applied. And he notes that in the individual school districts, some of the changes will apply more directly than in others.

 

“So your school system in Ouachita Parish may be different from that in Bossier, may be different from that in East Baton Rouge. What it’s intended to abide is greater autonomy for the school boards to have a pay structure and to have incentive pay other than pay being solely determined on a degree attainment and years of service.”

 

Louisiana is not alone in the South in its aim of allowing districts more latitude in pay scales. American Federation of Teachers Mississippi chapter president, Nancy Kent, says that the state sets pay-scale minimums in Mississippi, and school districts are permitted to provide supplemental pay; in Tennessee the state recommends pay-scales, but some districts add supplements.   

 

 

Ouachita Parish School District Superintendent, Bob Webber, says the proposed Louisiana formula will not provide many new options.

 

“You would freeze the salaries of teachers who were ineffective and give the higher salaries or bonuses to the teachers who were effective and even more so for the highly effective. It’s predicted that only ten percent of teachers will be ineffective so it’s going to be hard to pull from ten percent to pay ninety percent."

 

The superintendent also says any change is likely to come in small increments.

 

“I think it’s going to be a very slow process because you have to have the money to do it with. And you’re not cutting the salaries of some – there’s not a lot of additional money to be able to pay the teachers who are highly effective. I see a lot of problems with it. You’d better have data to back up what you’re doing because every teacher’s important.”

 

He says there has been mention of paying more to teachers who are highly effective, and talk of paying teachers that teach certain core subjects more, as well as the possibility of offering incentives to instructors in positions that are difficult to fill. Webber says that the restructuring could allow districts to use what little extra money there is to attract top teaching talent from other places.

 

Jeff Thompson says districts are going to have to spend wisely. 

 

“Most school systems are strapped for cash and what it’s going to take – it’s just like in a small business setting – looking at those individuals doing the best job.”

 

West Carroll Superintendent, Kent Davis says ninety-percent of the faculty in his parish are from the area or have married someone who’s from there. He says the district does not have enough money to bring in teachers from anywhere else.

 

“As far as the hiring, we have a difficult time recruiting teachers, getting teachers in our area, so it’s not like we have a big surplus or a big pool to call teachers from.”

 

Location can act as another impediment to luring teachers. Davis says the rural character of his district acts as a limitation.

 

“In Oak Grove there’s not a whole lot of night life, just to put it bluntly. And, a young teacher, if they have an opportunity to come to Oak Grove, or if they have an opportunity to go to Monroe or Shreveport, besides the pay scale difference, they’re going to be a lot more interested in going to a more metropolitan area.”

 

Still, superintendents across the state may have the opportunity to compensate coveted hires through what House Bill 974’s author, Representative Steve Carter, referred to in an email as the revamping of an “antiquated salary schedule.” And Representative Jeff Thompson says that school districts need to be paying attention to the progress of the bill so that they can prepare for the upcoming school year.