RFP Staff
♦ If the budget that passed in the Senate Friday night is passed in the House on Saturday or Sunday, the career teacher scales will be lower. Those already near the cap and who are not going to sign away tenure and longevity pay will be on a base scale that is less. They will receive an average of 500 dollars less next year. In other words, those teachers not signing away longevity pay and contractual step pay will be penalized by less pay anyway. No one who will make over the cap in three years would be foolish enough to sign away longevity and step pay, but is it legal to penalize them for not doing so? If NC does that this year, what will they do next year? Here is a side-by-side comparison of the scales:
The following charts compare salaries for NC teachers in 2013-2014 and the salary scale in the budget the Senate approved on Friday, May 30 (to see in more detail, click on the link below the image):
Comparison Illustrating a Lowered Income for Experienced Teachers
See the more detailed image here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2E5Ew6OLdElbXV4RGFTbkpPZEE/edit?usp=sharing
NC Department of Public Instruction’s teacher salary scales (current) can be found here:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/fbs/finance/salary/schedules/2013-14schedules.pdf
The following charts illustrate a category of teachers not illustrated in the Senate budget proposed by Senator Berger, which oversimplifies teacher salary schedules. Many NC highly qualified teachers, who earn that status through high student growth and positive evaluations, are National Board Certified or have achieved a higher degree of education. One example of such teachers appear in the blue zone of the comparative image below. These teachers at the high end of the bachelor’s scale are already earning near to the salary cap proposed by Senator Berger. No matter what the outcome of this year’s budget, they are not likely to sign off tenure (which is merely a right to a hearing should they be terminated) or longevity pay. It appears punitive to ask such a teacher to sign away that level of compensation to accept the capped salary now or face a lower salary in August.
Teachers who receive Master’s compensation and National Board compensation fall into an equally large category not indicated on Senator Berger’s chart.
See the more detailed image here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2E5Ew6OLdElRmlTVTE5WF9OSm8/edit?usp=sharing
Senator Berger’s plan can be found here:
http://philberger.com/Education-Press-Conference_05-28-2014-Final.pdf
