Teachers working without contracts
BOISE – Almost half the teachers in Idaho are working without a contract. Most blame the Legislature for failing to send enough money to districts.
“In a couple of districts, there are other issues on the table, but the over-arching issue is funding,” said Sherri Wood, the president of the Idaho Education Association.
Of Idaho’s 114 school districts, 28 do not have contracts, said Gayle Moore, a spokeswoman for the Idaho Education Association. Not all of Idaho’s teachers belong to the IEA, but the group negotiates contracts with school districts on behalf of all the teachers.
Moore said Idaho has 15,825 teachers, and 7,243 are working without a current contract – about 46 percent of all the teachers in the state.
“I must admit I was surprised at the large numbers” without contracts, said Moore.
Some of the districts, including Meridian – the largest district in Idaho – have contracts in the works.
Some of the contract disputes do concern insurance or other matters, but most are about money.
Lawmakers will be asked in next year’s session to send more money to the districts. Idaho schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard has proposed a $1 billion budget that would increase the 2005-2006 fiscal year budget by 6 percent. Most of that increase – $47.5 million – would be in the money the state sends to the districts for teacher and staff salaries and benefits.
“Each year, Dr. Howard has sought funding increases to assist school boards in meeting their obligations,” said Allison Westfall, a spokeswoman for Howard’s office, on Wednesday. “Five years of bare-bones state funding for salary improvements and classroom support have made it difficult for local school boards to address all their needs and increasing costs.”
It’s clear Howard’s office and others will face some difficulty persuading lawmakers to spend more. Ann Rydalch, R-Idaho Falls and vice chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said she didn’t think they will.
“It’s too risky out there right now to talk about a tax increase,” said Rydalch, who taught at Bonneville High School for eight years. “Our economy is rebounding from the recession, but it’s got to proceed slowly, because we are taxed quite high in our state.”
The state Board of Education does not propose a budget for kindergarten through high school; that is the job of Howard’s office. But it has a committee that is examining the issue of teacher pay. One member of that committee is Jack Wenders, a retired economics professor in Moscow who thinks teachers are already paid too much.
“Generally, teachers are paid well above market wages, contrary to what they say,” said Wenders.
A study released earlier this month by the American Federation of Teachers said Idaho’s teachers are among the lowest-paid in the nation.
The AFT said ranked 32nd in the nation for its annual teacher salaries, and 44th in the nation for starting teacher salaries. Idaho teachers made starting salaries of just under $25,908 in the 2003-2004 school year, the year on which the AFT report was based – compared to a national average of $31,704.