New Salary Rate OKd to Lure More Teachers

To recruit more bilingual teachers in areas such as math and science, the school board voted to give newly hired teachers credit for up to 15 years of teaching experience, which will mean an attractive jump in pay for some teachers.

New teachers with 15 years’ experience will be paid $5,000 to $9,000 a year more than previous hires, who were limited to credit for up to eight years of experience. A teacher with a master’s degree, for example, would be hired at $53,000 a year rather than $44,000 under the old plan.

Don Champlin, assistant superintendent for personnel services, said the pool of teachers with bilingual skills is limited, and the district needed an extra hook to attract those available, especially for math and science.

The district also voted to raise the maximum annual salary from approximately $57,000 to $59,000 to compensate teachers who have been with the district a number of years but frozen at lower maximum levels. They will receive credit for each year since they were frozen, enabling them to leap forward on the salary scale. Exact figures will vary depending on whether a teacher has a master’s degree or doctorate.

The changes are expected to cost the district about $90,000 a year.

Champlin said raising the top salary level will cost far less than to pay teachers retroactively for the years they were frozen, as the district did in 1988 at a price of $1 million.