Virginia Education Association releases teacher salary study

Annie McCallum / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: January 12, 2008

The Virginia Education Association recently released its annual teacher salary study, which is giving teachers and administrators something to talk about - competition.

The association's president, Princess Moss, said the report is released this time of year to aid school districts during budget season and allow superintendents to gauge the competition.

The 95-page study includes rankings for teacher pay at various experience levels for the state's 132 school districts.

"It helps local school systems see where they are in comparison to their neighbors, and that's really important because recruiting and maintaining teachers is not easy," she said.

Higher teacher salaries, and salaries for education support professionals, tops the VEA's legislative agenda, Moss said. The 2008 General Assembly session started Wednesday.

In Campbell County, Robert Johnson, assistant superintendent for administration, said teacher pay is always a priority, both to keep the best educators and to reward them.

"Obviously we want to keep starting salaries competitive and we want to draw the best teachers to Campbell County. Our philosophy is you have to compete," he said. "We try to keep up with Amherst, Appomattox, Lynchburg, Bedford and those other divisions because we're all in competition for the best teachers."

Lynchburg City Schools Superintendent Paul McKendrick spoke empathetically about the importance of high teacher pay.

"It becomes part of the whole equation of providing a good school system for the whole community," he said.

"It's not the only thing that makes us a good school system, but it certainly starts there."

McKendrick said keeping the most-experienced teachers is a priority, that's why last year the district put in a salary step system allowing greater compensation sooner to teachers who had been in the system for an extended period of time.

For example, the salary at year 27 was bumped to year 25 because officials found they were losing faculty members around year 20.

"It's a way of trying to keep our teachers so they can see this investment. So they can see down the line they will be compensated for the work they've done, sort of a longevity step," he said.

None of the area districts cracked the upper echelons of the salary rankings in the study. Most salaries hovered either at or below the state average.

When comparing career earnings for teachers with 30 years experience - what longtime educators could earn during their entire career - Lynchburg did rank in the top 50. City schools were 49th in the state.

Among area school districts, the highest starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree is in Nelson County, where a first-year educator can expect to earn $37,001. That's about $1,400 more than the state average.

The same is true of those pursuing a teaching career with a master's degree in Nelson County, where the starting salary is $39,001 and slightly higher than the state average.

Looking at the opposite end of the experience spectrum, Lynchburg has the highest pay among local districts for teaching veterans. With a bachelor's degree and 30 years in the classroom, educators could earn $57,194, or $60,277 with a master's degree.

City schools separate themselves from the pack because even in Campbell County, which comes in with the second-highest pay for 30-year educators, salaries are still several thousand dollars lower than those in Lynchburg.

For example, with 30 years of experience and a bachelor's degree in Campbell County, a teacher could earn $53,675; the rate is $55,654 with a master's. Compared with city schools, that's a difference of $3,519 and $4,623, respectively.

Bedford County had the lowest starting salaries for first-year teachers with a master's degree and the lowest for a 30-year educator with a master's degree.

Teacher salaries were in the spotlight Thursday during a budget public hearing with the Bedford County School Board. Concerned residents asked for a 5-percent pay raise for teachers over the next

three years.

The Virginia Education Association study was compiled using salary schedules and surveys. Association officials cautioned against comparing numbers because the cost of living can vary.

The study also shows what supplements school districts offer for semester hours, advanced degrees and what, if any, type of tuition reimbursement policy they have in place. The report does not consider extra benefits paid to teachers.

The study comes just weeks after the National Education Association released its own teacher salary study, which ranked states' teacher pay. Virginia came in 31st nationwide.

"What other aspect of life would we be satisfied with being 31st out of 50-" Moss asked, later adding, "In order to create the kind of commonwealth we need, a commonwealth that will be productive, we need to ensure students are educated by our best and brightest."