Florida teacher pay not competitive in big districts, study says By Leslie Postal contact the reporter Orlando Sentinal Best place to be a public school teacher? Pittsburgh, at least if youre a top-notch instructor. (This has been updated and corrected to note that Hillsborough County schools had the best salary plan among large Florida school districts). The Orange County school district, and Floridas other large school systems, rank poorly on a new teacher pay study that looks at bang for the buck in earnings. The Orange school district was ranked 95th out of the nations 113 largest school districts, the study found. The National Council on Teacher Quality accounted for cost-of-living differences and then ranked the nations largest school districts on teachers earnings over a 30-year career. The best-ranked Florida school district was Hillsborough Countys, which came in at 59. A key factor in higher earnings for teachers, the study found, was not starting salary but how quickly pay increased. In some districts, with merit-pay plans, earning top reviews helped, too. The council is a supporter of performance-pay and teacher salary schedules that arent the lock-step ones that have been common in Florida. Those salary plans typically give teachers small yearly raises based on anothers years work and on whether they have advanced degrees. Though Floridas merit-pay law of 2011 aimed to move teachers to performance-pay plans, many teachers were grandfathered in on the old plans. Its time for school districts to rethink compensation plans, the council said. Salary plans that accelerate earnings earlier in a career (as happens in some other professions) help maximize overall earnings and help teachers reach a professional salary (about $68,000) sooner, it added. But that doesnt happen often in public education, it noted. The best place to be a public school teacher was Pittsburgh, if you were an exemplary teacher, the study found (Pay for Pittsburgh teachers who are above average was ranked No. 4 and for average teachers was at 45). The school districts in Columbus, OH and Atlanta, GA were ranked No. 2 and 3. In Florida, Palm Beach County was at 79, Miami-Dade County was at 86, Pinellas County was at 87 and Polk County was at 88. Duval County was not far behidn Orange at 98, Lee County was 100 and Broward County was 101. Floridas largest school districts were ranked far lower than districts in Nashville, Chicago, Cincinnati and Birmingham, among many other palces. The worst place in the country, however, was New York City, the study said. Thats because while the salaries were relatively high, the cost of living was really high, eating up much of a teachers earning power. San Franciscos school district didnt fare well either, for the same its-an-expensive-place-to-live problem.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 01:46:49 +0000
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