Bill proposes teacher pay raises

Math and science teachers in Idaho public schools would receive pay raises under a proposal from Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene.

Intended to attract more job candidates, the raises would begin at 3.75 percent for all math and science teachers on the job at least a year. The raises would bump those teachers up one step in the seniority-based pay system, said Goedde, chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

A raise of 3.75 percent would add about $1,500 a year to a salary of $40,000. If every math and science teacher gets the raise, the cost to the state would be about $2.8 million.

School districts negotiate their contracts with their local teachers unions, and it would be up to the districts to decide whether to accept the extra money from the state, so the cost might be less, Goedde said.

“We, I think, have an acknowledged a problem with the ability to fill math and science slots,” he said.

All secondary school teachers spending a majority of their time teaching math or science would be eligible.

The committee voted Monday to send the bill to print, meaning it’s up for further discussion.

Sen. Bert Marley, D-McCammon, voted against the bill. He said it wouldn’t do much for teachers in the beginning of their careers because the big raises are for those with several years of experience.

“This misses the boat,” Marley said.

“If we’re trying to attract young math teachers, how in the world are we going to attract them if there’s nothing for them on the front end?” he said after the meeting.

Goedde said it’s true that his proposal doesn’t cover every teacher, but he said it’s a good start.

“I’d suggest that it solves a part of the problem,” Goedde said.

But Marley said that giving the raises only to teachers who spend “a majority” of their time teaching math helps at the high school level, not at the elementary level where he believes more help is needed.

He said he is more interested in committee member and Moscow Republican Sen. Gary Schroeder’s bill, which creates a merit-based college scholarship fund for Idaho public high school students studying math, science or engineering.

The state Board of Education would set the elegibility requirements, but the scholarship assures a full-ride four year education at an Idaho public university.

“Liken it to a football team – we want to attract the best,” Schroeder said.

A hearing about that bill will likely be scheduled soon, Schroeder said.

The committee also voted to send SB 1508 to the full Senate. The bill calls for textbook publishers to provide schools with electronic versions of them to help vision- or hearing-impaired students.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg.