April 2013 State Board of Education Review

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NCAE SBE Review SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: The following were recognized by ACT for having outstanding programs: Tabor High School in Winston Salem had a student to receive the Outstanding Student Achievement Award, Parkland High School in Winston Salem received the Outstanding High School Award for supporting students with the ACT, and the following Community Colleges received recognition for collaborative partnerships: Edgecombe and Catawba Community Colleges.

The SBE has six new members. William Cobey was elected as the new State Board Chair, and Buddy Collins as the new Vice Chair. Four other new SBE members were also sworn in for new terms: Marcella Savage, Rebecca Taylor, Olivia Oxendine and Greg Alcorn. It was a pleasure working with the outgoing members: Shirley Harris, Melissa Bartlett, Chris Green, Tom Speed, Jean Woolard and Bill Harrison.

J A N U A R Y

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DISCUSSED POSSIBLE NEW SALARY OPTIONS FOR TEACHERS The NC DPI has been tasked with providing suggestions to legislators on how to structure and/or change the current teacher salary schedule. The current pay structure is based on years of experience, advanced degrees and NBCT status. Issues with the current structure include salaries being frozen for five years, and taking 35 years to reach at least $68,000. There are no recruiting tools to fill LEAs needs and few LEAs have retention tools to keep highly effective teachers. Prior to the presentation, DPI staff did meet with various organizations, including NCAE. NEA research was noted in the presentation. The following are ONLY suggestions about how to move teacher salaries into a more competitive field, and what NC needs to do to keep our teachers in here, as well as how to sustain a new salary structure that is fair and equitable, and provide more money for needed increases.  Dollar Allotment or Block Grants to LEAs which provides local control, but eliminates the current position allotments, discourages LEAs to employ experienced or accomplished teachers due to cost, and penalizes LEAs with a low turnover. NCAE has never supported the Block grant concept due to the caveat of not including master’s pay or NBCT pay in order to have higher salaries for all teachers.  Shorten Schedule with the idea of moving to 20 steps instead of 35 and discontinuing the master’s and NBCT salary differentiation to allow for a higher percentage increase in the steps. NCAE believes recognition for advanced degrees is important.  Promotional Salary Schedule with Ranges was presented as a local control concept. Salaries would be determined based on local decisions and by providing a career path for teachers, as well as a way to earn incentives and to recruit and retain teachers. This proposed change seemed most accepted by the SBE during the presentation. The four levels presented included Beginning Teachers at $31,000 to $35,000, Developing Teachers at $35,000 to $45,000, Advanced Teachers at $45,000 to $60,000 and Master Teachers at $60,000 to $68,000. (Dollar amounts used are the current salary amounts.) IF this proposed structure went forward, NCAE would strongly recommend some state guidelines to ensure consistency among LEAs and provide specific guidelines on how one would move between the categories and ranges.  Several Hybrid ideas were shared and more details will be forth coming at the May SBE meeting. NCAE would love to hear your thoughts as we begin to develop our own ideas to share.

NCAE Center for Instructional Advocacy, Membership Organizing & Communication

April

2013


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