Friday, Dec. 19, 2008

Keller teacher salaries are competitive, survey says

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By SANDRA ENGELLAND

Administrators are generally pleased with how Keller’s teacher salaries compare with those of other area school districts, but are concerned that a deficit budget might cause the district to slip in the rankings next year.

The district ranks in the top 13 in each category of the United Educators Association’s survey of teacher salaries in the 2008-09 school year. The Fort Worth-based advocacy group ranks salaries of 32 districts in the western Dallas-Fort Worth area each year. The rankings are in seven categories based on years of experience.

Salaries are considered the best recruitment and retention tool for this area, among the most competitive for teachers.

"Our goal was to be in the top 10," said Penny Benz, Keller’s assistant superintendent of human resources.

For teachers with five to 15 years experience, Keller is sixth or better. For beginning teachers’ salaries, Keller is No. 11.

Teachers with 20 years of experience fared the worst when compared to surrounding districts, coming in at No. 13. Officials will look those salaries to determine whether an adjustment is needed, Benz said. Figures in the survey do not include longevity stipends, given to teachers employed by the district for 10 or consecutive more years.

The longevity stipend, which starts at $300 a year and goes up $50 each additional year, is not offered in most surrounding districts, Benz said.

Teaching experience

Because Keller is a fast-growth district, a large number of new teachers are hired each year, and many of them do not have much experience, Benz said. According to figures from the Texas Education Agency, the average experience for Keller teachers is 9.1 years in the field and 4.7 years in the district. The state average is 11.3 years total experience and 7.4 years with the current employer.

Compared to last year’s salary survey, Keller dropped in most of the experience categories, with beginning teachers having the biggest change, down from No. 4. This year’s results are similar to the 2006-07 rankings, but with one significant improvement: Salaries of teachers with 20 years were 18th in the survey two years ago, five spots lower than this year.

Financial constraints

Despite adopting a deficit budget for the first time earlier this year, Keller school board members approved a 3 percent raise for all teachers. They said they wanted to reward teachers for improving the district’s accountability rating, which was "recognized," the second-highest of four assigned by the TEA, for the first time in five years.

Deputy superintendent Mark Youngs said administrators would not proposed a deficit budget to the board next spring. The 2008-09 budget is expected to draw almost $5 million from district savings.

Officials from school districts across the state have been asking legislators to tweak the state’s school finance system, saying it is not adjusted for inflation and is determined by what districts spent per pupil in 2005.

The system also prohibits districts to tax property at a rate higher than $1.04 per $100 of valuation in order to pay daily operating costs. Doing so triggers a rollback election. Keller’s rate is already at the cap.

"My outlook after having talked to legislators and other school districts is pessimistic that the Legislature will do anything this year," Youngs said.

In planning next year’s budget, "everything is on the table" as officials look to cut about $9 million, the projected deficit if spending levels stayed the same.

Youngs said the district would likely not need to lay off teachers but would shed some through attrition or would hire fewer than in previous to accommodate a growing number of students.

Neither Youngs nor Benz could say whether a difficult budget year would rule out raises next year. Youngs said officials would look at projected property values in the spring to get a better idea of what they had to spend.

Payroll is the lion’s share of school district spending at about 80 percent of the total budget.

"People are your greatest resource, so they’re also your greatest expense," Benz said.