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source:
Taylor Made: The Cost and Consequences of New York's Public-Sector Labor Laws
by Terry O'Neil and E.J. McMahon
scroll down for pdf file
from the report:
Teacher salary schedules in New York State typically include 20 to 30 annual pay “steps” on each of at least four “lanes”-- for teachers with bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, master’s plus 30 credits of graduate credits, and a master’s plus 60 credits. The following is a simplified example; many districts actually have more steps and lanes than shown here.
Most teachers spend most of their careers moving up salary steps—and, occasionally, across salary lanes—even if their union contract has expired, because the Triborough Amendment guarantees these changes. As a result, a school district’s salary costs rise even when union negotiations have reached impasse and there is no new contract. For the same reason, contract settlements calling for seemingly modest, inflation-level increases in base salaries can be far more costly than they look. This is especially true in districts with predominantly younger teaching staffs.
Figure 8 illustrates the projected 10-year pay history of a newly hired teacher, fresh out of college, working in a district with a salary schedule matching the reported medians for all Suffolk County districts in 2006-07. Assuming the teacher earns a master’s degree within two years—a prerequisite for certification—and assuming all base salary steps also increase annually by 2.6 percent under the union contract, her salary by Step 6 will reach $68,753, a pay boost of 58 percent after five years. Even if the salary schedule is frozen at 2006-07 levels due to a contract impasse, the Triborough Law guarantees that the Step 6 salary for a certified teacher with the same level of experience will reach $60,472, an increase of 39 percent in five years.
Earning 30 more graduate or “in-service” credits by the end of her sixth year will move the teacher up yet another lane on the salary schedule. Assuming continued annual inflation-level increases in base steps, the salary for this teacher in the “Masters + 30” lane by Step 10 will reach $100,687—an increase of 132 percent after 10 years on the job. Even if the salary schedule remained frozen throughout the period, Triborough would guarantee that the teacher’s pay by Step 10 reached $77,893—an increase of 79 percent from Step 1. By tacking on another 30 graduate or in-service credits during this period, the teacher could move to the “Masters + 60” lane and climb the ladder even faster, reaching $122,000 in her 11th year assuming continued inflation-level increases in base salaries.
6 comments:
Now I see the trick. Split raises into two parts and talk about them separately. Do towns ever try to relate grid raises to supply and demand? What does the benefit package look like?
Jay Greene tackled the whole non-value of the ed graduate degree in his book Education Myths. Now I *CAN* see paying a higher salary for those teachers who have gone through the rigor of getting the NBCT certification. That's a whole lot more work to earn than some joke degree (often done at a diploma mill like University of Phoenix).
Another trick is to up the grid to cover the 'loss' of a benefit. For ex., our last contract is the first in which a teacher contributes out of the paycheck for health insurance. The grid was raised to offset this 'loss'..no one saw a cut in net pay.
Also, the grids don't cover jobs that are outside the area of a basic teacher's responsibility. Additional pay is given for being a dept chair (even if the dept has only 2 add'l people and those are in other bldgs!!) and so forth. Assembling science lab kits, grading regent's exams, advising the honor society, etc all mean additional pay.
Having worked only in private schools, I don't understand why teachers are saying they need extra pay for things like "assembling science lab kits". Are you kidding me? You should be happy you have a job.
NBCT certification has no positive effects on student achievement. In fact, while the teacher is going through the NBCT process, student achievement actually drops.
The National Research Council (part of the National Academy of Science) found that: "students taught by NBCTs make higher gains on achievement tests than those taught by teachers who have not applied and those who did not achieve certification. The findings are based on an analysis of the studies that the NRC says meet standards of sound scientific research, including new analyses commissioned by the NRC. According to the report, the 'evidence is clear that National Board Certification distinguishes more effective teachers from less effective teachers with respect to student achievement.'"
Specifically, the NRC study found that those teachers who earn certification boost test scores by 4% in reading and 7% in math when compared to their non-certified peers. Interestingly, the study found a NEGATIVE correlation between the teacher holding an advanced degree and student achievement.
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