As he presented his $2.5 billion budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2014 on Thursday, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale threw up a "red flag" about the county's ability to pay teachers compared to other neighboring jurisdictions, which could hurt its ability to attract and retain educators, he said.
Dale's proposed budget is $62.7 million larger than last year's budget but relies heavily on a proposed 5.5 percent increase ($92.4 million) in funding from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors — for a total transfer of $1.77 billion — as a revenue source.
Compensation — including an extra 293 positions to accommodate student growth and the costs of benefits and a state-mandated Virginia Retirement System shift — makes up about 88 percent of the system’s budget.
While it also calls for a 1 percent market scale adjustment for all teachers next year, which will cost the system about $18.9 million, the budget doesn’t provide step increases or other potential raises officials had considered in a fiscal forecast last fall.
Read more about Dale's proposed FY 2014 budget.
That doesn't help the system keep pace with its neighbors — a problem that will worsen in coming years, said Dale, who gave his last budget presentation Thursday ahead of his June retirement.
Fairfax will be able to remain in the middle of the pack for average starting teachers salaries at $45,161, for now, Dale said. With more experience, the county continues to drop.
Fairfax is fourth from the bottom on a list of what jurisdictionspay teachers with master's degrees, giving an average of $58,303 a year compared to leader Arlington's $71,982. It is second to last when comparing "maximum teacher salaries" for the area's most experienced teachers: Educators in Fairfax peak at $96,039, but can reach $109,078 in Arlington.
And Fairfax will likely fall lower on those lists, Dale said.
Fairfax County Federation of Teachers President Steve Greenburg said those differences will motivate teachers to drive "10 miles down the road" to work in a system in which they're paid better.
"In the last 10 years we have gone from one of the most attractive school systems in the [Washington] area to at best middle of the road, and we're even moving toward the bottom," said Greenburg, whose group represents 4,265 teachers. "We are not getting the support form the state or the supervisors to even handle the growth increases let alone to compensate our employees appropriately," he said.
Dale said unless there is an increase in transfer from the county board of supervisors — which comes mostly from real estate and personal property taxes— or another outside source of revenue, the trend will continue.
County Executive Ed Long said this fall he anticipated being able to give the school system an $84.2 million increase in transfer.
Long said last month it wasn't clear if county employees would receive pay increases in FY 2014; he also said he was considering a two-year employee compensation system: in odd years, giving cost of living increases and in even years giving regular and performance-based pay bumps.
Not only does it make pay raises more manageable in the county's budget year to year, he said, but it's also more predictable in tough economic environments.
Dale said Long's proposal came out too late for him to consider it in his plan, or discuss it with the school board.
"If the people in Fairfax County — the businesses, the parents, the citizens — care about that and think that's important... they need to prioritize education, not just with their mouths but with their money," Greenburg said.
"I don’t really believe it's an issue of our school board not prioritizing," he added. "This is an issue of funding."
Kathy Smith (Sully) said she was concerned about some larger issues not adequately addressed in Dale's proposal, like employee compensation, that the board will have to find ways to solve.
"I don’t know if that can be done in this budget year," she said.
See also:
I have known teachers with PHD's who were just awful I the classroom. I do think teachers should get paid for their experience and education. It is an indicator of commitment to the profession. However, I do not think there should be a huge disparity. After all, these people are being paid for doing essentially the same job. Think about it: is it fair for little Susie's teacher to be making twice as much as Johnnie's--especially when they teach next door to each other and have the same duties? No. Reward teachers for education and experience--but use discretion in the amounts given.
In the end, we will continue to increase the LCPS budget by 2 or 3 times the rate of inflation (after adjusting for over-estimated increases in enrollment), the kids will continue to go to gold-plated schools, closing the smallest, most inefficient schools will be “off the table”, English and math will remain part of the curriculum, the land acquisition process will remain done behind closed doors, part-time employees will continue to receive full benefits and Superintendent Hatrick will make yet another junket to a far-off land to observe how they teach their kids and impart this new-found wisdom on the school system. But remember, no one in the real world (private sector) gets paid benefits for part time jobs, school employees will remain fairly paid in return for a contractual 7 hour day 197 days a year with full health care and retirement benefits. We will continue to build schools because it not real money if it gets bonded. Sounds like a square deal to me. We must remain calm. We’ve read the LCPS budget battle book before and we know how it ends.
Teachers HAVE been asked to do increased paperwork and administrative duties, take significantly less planning time, teach larger class sizes, and perform tasks for free that used to bring additional compensation. I agree that money is misappropriated in this budget, and that the school board is not insistent enough on midyear changes. But some of your claims about teachers don't wash with the truth.