Teacher Pay Initiative Controversial Automatic Raises Needed To Keep Teachers, Backers Say; Foes Cite Fairness, High Cost

Backers of an initiative to give teachers annual cost-ofliving pay raises are hoping voters agree that teachers’ salaries deserve to keep pace with inflation.

And if voters don’t buy into that argument, supporters of Initiative 732 offer another: If Washington state doesn’t give teachers more incentive to stick around, it risks losing its best people as the long-predicted national teacher shortage takes hold.

“We have other states offering significantly higher salaries,” said Eric Wilson, director of Citizens for Quality Educators, the group that is running the I-732 campaign. “The teacher shortage is a real, looming issue. (The state) has got 40,000 teacher vacancies to fill in the next decade.”

I-732, one of three education initiatives on the ballot, would provide automatic, annual salary increases based on the consumer price index for all K-12 school employees and some two-year college employees. If approved, more than 100,000 employees would get the annual pay hikes.

Opponents say the initiative is unfair because other state workers do not get automatic cost-of-living increases.

And state Rep. Tom Huff, R-Gig Harbor, co-chairman of the House budget committee, actually thinks the initiative is unfair to teachers.

Huff believes any pay raises should be linked to regional economics and and other factors.

“The beginning school teachers should be paid more and better school teachers should get more,” he said. “We should be regionalizing pay based on the cost of living.”

In addition, he believes math and science teachers, who are in short supply, also deserve more pay.

While supporters recognize Huff’s concerns, they argue the initiative is simply a matter of fairness. Since teachers’ salaries already are based on experience and education, the measure merely allows their salaries to maintain buying power, said Rich Wood, spokesman for the Washington Education Association.

“This is a very simple initiative to ensure that teachers’ salaries keep up with inflation,” Wood said.

I-732 supporters also point out that the state’s teachers continue to be paid below the national average.

In 1999, the average teacher salary in Washington was $38,530 compared to the national average of $40,574, according to the American Federation of Teachers.

Washington ranks 22nd in the country in teacher pay, according to the AFT.

With more demands placed on teachers in the wake of education reform and higher academic standards, Spokane teacher Maureen Ramos said it’s only fair that teacher salaries keep pace with inflation.

“The bar and the expectations have been raised, but the salary hasn’t,” said Ramos, who teaches at Spokane School District 81’s Libby Center in its gifted program.

With two other education initiatives on the ballot, Ramos and others are hoping I-732 will stand out as “common sense.”

They also say I-732 complements I-728, the “Class Size and Student Achievement Initiative,” which would funnel millions more to school districts to reduce class sizes, among other things.

“You can lower class size but unless you have a quality educator in front of the class, what good is it?” asked Ramos.

During the first eight to 16 years of their career, the state’s K-12 teachers receive automatic pay raises based on education and years of experience.

For example, the starting salary for a new teacher with a bachelor’s degree is about $26,500 - whether in Spokane or Bellevue. A teacher who has 16 or more years of experience and a doctorate degree makes nearly $53,000. Additional pay increases are approved by the Legislature.

Teacher salaries, on average have increased by 12 percent since 1992-93, based on raises approved by lawmakers. And even though teachers are scheduled to get a 3 percent raise next year, their salaries still have failed to keep up with inflation, I-732 proponents argue. The cost of living during that same time period has increased by 25 percent based on a regional consumer price index, supporters assert.

Spokane teacher Chris Kusske, in her 16th year of teaching, said she’s felt the pinch as her salary has lost its buying power in recent years.

“General expenses have gone up but my salary has not kept pace,” said Kusske, who teaches first grade at Indian Trail Elementary School.

If approved, I-732 would cost the state an estimated $420 million over the next biennium, the state’s Office of Financial Management predicts.

Huff worries the measure would wreck the state budget because legislators have to work within the confines of the voter-approved spending cap, known as Initiative 601.

The Washington Public Employees Association, which represents 5,000 state employees, also has taken a strong stance against I-732.

“Our members along with 75,000 other state employees are no less deserving than school employees for annual cost-of-living adjustments,” said WPEA spokeswoman Lynn McKinnon.

She points to the fact that I-732 covers the Washington Education Association’s membership and that the WEA is the campaign’s largest contributor.

According to the state’s Public Disclosure Commission, the WEA has contributed $618,000 to the campaign while the National Education Association has donated $500,000 - which adds up to most of the $1.2 million received by the campaign.

McKinnon worries that other state employees, as well as teachers, could be hurt by I-732 if it’s approved.

“We are very concerned about a limited amount of funding if all of these initiatives pass,” she said. “If money is taken right off the top to address them all, the real challenge for the Legislature is do they bust the 601 spending limit or do they cut programs?”

If the Legislature has to put its money into pay raises, McKinnon also is concerned lawmakers may not put enough into funding state employees’ health benefits.

If the initiative did, in fact, cause budget problems, Kusske said she thinks the state would have to reexamine its priorities.

“I think the state needs to learn to afford it,” she said. “I think they cannot not afford it. Children are the bottom line and you need to attract and keep quality people working with them.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: ELECTION 2000 I-732

Initiative 732 would provide automatic, annual cost-of-living salary increases for all K-12 school employees and some two-year college employees. The measure, if approved, is expected to cost the state up to $420 million over the next two years.