Idaho House backs 5-year plan to raise teacher pay

BOISE – The Idaho House has overwhelmingly approved a teacher-pay bill that calls for spending $125 million more on teacher salaries over the next five years, sending the measure to the Senate. House Education Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, told the House that Idaho is facing a crisis in its school system. The number of certified teachers in Idaho has dropped by 7 percent in the past five years, while the number of students has grown 5 percent, he said. The number applying for certification as Idaho teachers, historically about 1,100 a year, dropped 27 percent in 2013-14 to 866. The number of out-of-state teachers applying for Idaho teacher certificates was 898 in 2007; it had dropped to just 68 in 2013. “We are getting to a crisis situation,” DeMordaunt said. Increasingly, Idaho school districts can’t fill teaching positions, he said, and many are cancelling classes or programs or relying on substitutes. Meanwhile, Idaho’s minimum teacher salary of $31,750 is being earned by a third of Idaho’s teachers. “When they start at that level as new teachers, they don’t get a raise under the state’s pay system for eight years,” DeMordaunt said. DeMordaunt said as a result, Idaho’s current teacher pay system provides no incentive for teachers to stay in the profession. Under HB 296, the amount of money the state sends to school districts for teacher pay would rise next year and each of the next five years, for all teachers, at all levels, provided that the teachers meet performance requirements. Teachers also would be eligible for additional payments for master teachers, and for “leadership” premiums; and would earn additional pay for earning additional educational degrees. By the end of the five-year phase-in, Idaho’s minimum teacher salary would be up to $37,000. An experienced teacher who’s now at the minimum would get 4.5 percent more in state funding next year to hit $33,200, and by the end of the five years would be up to $44,375; a master’s degree would bump that up to $47,875. The bill is seen as a centerpiece of this year’s Idaho legislative session, designed to carry out the aims of a stakeholder task force for improving schools that was appointed by Gov. Butch Otter. It’s the third version proposed; while earlier versions drew opposition from teachers, HB 296 has drawn support from all sides, including teachers, school administrators, school boards, and lawmakers from both parties. Anti-climactically, there was no debate in the House today after DeMordaunt’s opening comments. After the quick vote, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley commented, “It’s no small item, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.” The eight “no” votes were all from House Republicans, half of them from North Idaho, including Reps. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton; Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens; Heather Scott, R-Blanchard; and Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene. The teacher-pay bill still needs Senate passage and the governor’s signature to become law. The Legislature’s joint budget committee has held off on setting the budget for Idaho’s public schools - the single largest slice of the state budget - until the pay issue is settled.