Health & Fitness
Can a Teacher's Contract Be a Matter of Disrespect?
The Geneva teachers agreement is till not settled what is the major issue
I have attended many School Board meetings over the last 15 years, but the last four meetings have been the most interesting. I’m used to people showing up only when a topic on the agenda directly affects them or their children. They state their feelings or concerns and then usually never attend another meeting. That is, not until something else that affects them pops up.
Recent meetings have been quite different. As most know, many teachers have been showing up to voice their concern over the status of the Geneva Education Association’s agreement with the Geneva Board of Education. Actually, the vast majority doesn’t voice their opinion; they stay for a while and then leave in silence. The first night, they stayed for six minutes. It was ironic that the proposed school year budget was presented to the board after the teachers left. They missed hearing that district expenses will be $4 million more than revenues. They must have realized how arrogant it was for them to all leave so quickly; many now stay till the conclusion.
So what have the teachers been saying? I can’t do their words justice; it is best if you listen to their comments at https://www.geneva304.org/board_of_education/meetings/meetingvideos.asp. Make sure you click on the Video Archives to watch the meetings from 8/13 and 8/27, as well.
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Bottom line, no one knows exactly what the board of education is offering or what the GEA is requesting. The GEA president has confirmed that a salary freeze and working conditions are the two sticking points.
How Teacher Compensation Works
The School Board has taken the brunt of the blame from the teachers when, in reality, the real problem lies with the method used to determine a teachers’ salary. Most districts compensate teachers through what is called the “step and lane” program. Basically it is a grid with “steps,” representing years of service, going down the left side. Each year, a teacher automatically goes to the next step. There are a total of 22 steps. The “lanes” go across the top and represent the teacher's level of education. There are nine lanes from a bachelor of arts to a doctorate. There are various course credit hour levels across the lane. Yearly compensation is determined by the step and lane that you fall in. https://www.geneva304.org/district_information/PDF/GEA_Contract_2009-2012.pdf see page 44.
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The “step and lane” compensation program works against new hires and rewards those with more experience and education. For example, a 4 percent increase for a teacher making $80,000 vs. one making $40,000 is double in terms of dollars ($3,200 vs. $1,600). Many times, this results in a wide salary difference for two teachers who are teaching the same subject, even in the same school.
To illustrate the wide range of salaries that teachers receive, the chart below recaps the number of teachers and their salary range by the subject or discipline they teach. The last column recaps the difference between the lowest and highest paid teacher in each subject. The difference in salary for teachers responsible for teaching the same information, in this case math, is has high as $83,149 ($39,007 vs. $122,156). While salary can include outside classroom responsibilities, this is still a huge difference. This disparity raises several questions that will be discussed in the conclusions section.
Geneva Certified Staff By Department and Salary Range
School Year
Number in District
Title
Salary Range of Teachers
Difference
2011
43
SPECIAL EDUCATION
39,007 -118,728
79,719
2011
26
MATH
39,007 - 122,156
83,149
2011
24
LANGUAGE ARTS
39,600 - 110,927
71,327
2011
24
SCIENCE
36,057 - 110,927
74,870
2011
24
SOCIAL STUDIES
48,089 - 119,770
71,681
2011
21
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
47,601 - 117,351
69,750
2011
20
GRADE 3
40,041 -105,493
65,452
2011
19
GRADE 4
47,627 - 99,936
52,309
2011
19
GRADE 5
44,649 - 108,811
64,162
2011
18
GRADE 2
50,672 - 105,493
54,821
2011
17
GRADE 1
45,637 - 110,927
65,290
2011
16
ENGLISH
46,758 - 91,990
45,232
2011
12
FRENCH
46,027 - 83,241
37,214
2011
11
MUSIC INSTRUMENTAL
48,289 - 91,576
43,287
2011
10
ART
40,979 - 105,493
64,514
2011
10
KINDERGARTEN
50,672 -104,993
54,321
2011
9
LIBRARIAN
49,363 - 110,927
61,564
2011
9
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST
46,847 - 79,055
32,208
2011
8
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
43,659 -95,805
52,146
2011
8
MUSIC VOCAL
56,394 - 104,993
48,599
2011
8
PSYCHOLOGIST
52,015 - 94,944
42,929
2011
8
SOCIAL WORKER
45,355 - 67,570
22,215
2011
6
ACCELERATION ENRICHMENT
79,055 - 93,662
14,607
2011
4
FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCE
56,262 - 79,055
22,793
2011
4
TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
85,510 - 106,421
20,911
2011
3
BUSINESS EDUCATION
74,405 - 110,927
36,522
2011
3
NURSE
56,262 - 77,013
20,751
2011
3
READING SPECIALIST
56,262 - 62,469
6,207
2011
2
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
61,050 - 123,330
62,280
2011
2
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
69,361 - 76,975
7,614
2011
2
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING
53,394 - 56,262
2,868
2011
2
HEALTH
70,236 - 72,872
2,636
2011
2
STUDY SKILLS
55,604 - 90,117
34,513
2011
1
DRIVER EDUCATION
123,954
n/a
2011
1
PHYSICS
110,927
n/a
2011
1
READING INTERVENTION
75,025
n/a
2011
1
STUDENT ASSISTANCE COORDINATOR
105,493
n/a
2011
1
TV PRODUCTION
58,866
n/a
Source: Illinois State Board of Education Fiscal Year 2011
Results of 2009 – 2012 (three year) GEA Contract
2011 to 2012
2010 to 2012
Increase
More than 20%
21 teachers
55 teachers
Between 10% and 19.99%
27 teachers
81 teachers
Between 5% and 9.99%
90 teachers
168 teachers
Between 4% and 4.99%
128 teachers
Between 3% and 3.99%
34 teachers
Between 2% and 2.99%
13 teachers
Between 2% and 4.99%
18 teachers
Detailed information is available at http://www.genevataxfacts.org/
When the last contract was announced to the public, it was presented as being an average increase of about 9 percent over three years. The chart above recaps increases from 2010-2012 (two years) and 2011-2012 (one year). Though there was one, the salary increase from 2009 to 2010 is not included. The recap includes only teachers that were employed during the years tracked. Adding the 2009-2010 school year salaries, which is the first year of the contract, would cause the percentages to increase. How did a contract, that was supposed to provide a 9 percent increase over three years, have 21 teachers receive more than a 20 percent increase in just one year? How did 136 teachers received more than a 10 percent increase in just two years? Another 168 received at least a 5 percent increase in just two years. The answer lies in how the step and lane program is structured. Teachers are rewarded for years of service and additional education, not their effectiveness in the classroom.
If you received the same increases that the Geneva teachers have since 2009, would you feel disrespected and treated unfairly? Would you consider a one-year salary freeze “a slap in the face?” Many teachers do.
Conclusions
There has been much talk about the need for educational reform throughout the United States, but whenever reform is attempted the teachers union refuses to implement any serious change. In Illinois, because local districts are funded primarily by property taxes, the recent real estate recession has compounded the issue. If the state pushes pension funding down to the local level, things are only going to get worse.
Teachers need to understand that local taxpayers can no longer carry the burden of increased funding for local districts. The automatic yearly salary increase, payment for masters programs, salary increases based on level of education, local funding of pensions and 100 percent coverage of medical premiums are no longer sustainable. This is not a reflection of the value placed on teachers; it is based on the economic reality of the times.
Unless teachers and their unions reform the method by which teachers are compensated, the local districts are doomed for failure. This is not just a Geneva problem; this is a problem throughout Illinois. The problem is Geneva is worse because we are also facing a $309 million debt service repayment payable within the next 15 years.
The union must realize that their demands are part of the problem.
- Base salary is something that the unions have agreed to, they can’t complain about the base vs. another district because contracts are different from district to district. If teachers have an issue with base salary, the blame is on the union for agreeing to the salary level.
- Is base salary really a smoke screen for a salary increase for all teachers? When base salary is increased, all teachers receive that same percent increase. If the base is increased .5% then a teacher making $100,000 receives that same .5% increase.
- Automatic yearly increases, based solely on time of service, are no longer viable. These increases create too wide a spread between teachers responsible for teaching the same material. Another year of service does not guarantee a teacher has become more effective in the classroom. Just look at the comparison of salaries of teachers in Grades 1 through 5 from 2011. The range is more than $65,000. Does that mean if a teacher making $100,000 vs. one making $50,000 teaches my child, they are getting a better education? Is the child taught by a “$50,000 teacher” getting shortchanged? If that is true, we are not providing the same education to all children. If one teacher is not twice as good as another, why are they making double the salary? I can understand that experienced teachers should make more but not 100 percent more.
- It is unrealistic to expect taxpayers to pay for additional education and then provide a yearly salary increase because of that education. Is it really necessary that someone with a Masters Degree teach every discipline?
Based on the recent comments of some Geneva teachers and the information provided above, maybe the taxpayers are the ones being disrespected and treated unfairly.