What The Contract Says
Base pay for new teachers goes to $39,855By BRIAN FERRY bferry@timesobserver.com
Following a Right-to-Know Law request, the Times Observer received a copy of the expired contract between the Warren County School District and the Warren County Education Association and the recently-approved changes to that expired contract.
The school board approved the contract on Sept. 2.
The included salary increases - an average of about 4 percent per year - are retroactive to July 1, 2008, according to the contract, which will be in effect through June 30, 2013. Compensation changes for supplemental contracts, including coaching, are not retroactive.
According to the terms of the contract, a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree will earn a base salary of $39,855. A teacher at the top of the 18-step scale will earn $60,120. The range for teachers with master's degrees is $41,940 to $64,205, and for teachers with doctorate degrees, the range is $45,940 to $68,205.
For the 2010-2011 school year, the first-year numbers go up to $40,740, $43,240, and $47,740 respectively, while the top-step will be $61,005, $65,505, and $70,005.
The final year of the four-year contract is 2012-2013. For that year, first-year teachers range in salary based on degree from $42,525 to $52,169, while the top of the scale is from $62,290 to $72,405.
For the 2008-2009 school year, the range, from a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree to an 18th-step teacher with a doctorate was $38,970 to $66,305.
The "increases to the salary schedules... shall average as follows" for each year of the contract: 2008-2009, 3.9 percent; 2009-2010, 3.9 percent; 2010-2011, 4 percent; 2011-2012, 3.99 percent; and 2012-2013, 3.99 percent.
The latest data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education indicates that the average Warren County School District teacher in the 2006-2007 school year earned $45,018 and had 14.2 years of experience with the district.
When taken as a county, the average pay of the then-second year Tidioute Community Charter School brought the 2006-2007 average down to $44,453.
Of the 67 counties in the state, that average pay ranked 65th, well below the state average of $54,977. If the district teachers were taken separately, the $45,018 leapfrogged over one county - Juniata - into 64th. The only counties with lower average teacher salaries were Huntingdon at $42,957, and Northumberland at $44,439. Only 11 counties exceeded the state average.
The health and dental insurance benefits are explained in the contract.
The employee contribution to monthly premiums are $18.22 for an individual to $52.06 for a family. As of July 1, 2010, the buy-in drops marginally to $18 for an individual and $52 for a family. If the cost of the premium goes up more than 15 percent in a year, the amount in excess of 15 percent will be "shared equally by the district and the employee."
The first 15 percent increase in health premiums each year will be paid by the district.
In-network deductibles during the course of the contract increase from $100/$200 in 2009-2010 to $150/$300 in 2010-2011 and $200/$400 in 2011-2012.
The co-pay amounts also increase once during the contract - from $10 to $15 for an in-network office visit and from $35 to $50 for an emergency room visit.
Right-to-Know
On Sept. 3, Times Observer Publisher John Elchert filed the Right-to-Know request.
According to the Right-to-Know Law, the district had five business days to respond to that request. It did so on Sept. 11, invoking its right for a 30-day extension.
The contract information was sent to the Times Observer electronically on Friday, Oct. 9.
The full contract is not available, according to district Right-to-Know Officer Ruth Huck, as "the changes approved by the board on Sept. 2 have not been incorporated into the final document and the contract has not yet been executed by the parties? As such, to the extent you are requesting a fully executed copy of the contract, this does not exist."
Huck wrote that she would send a copy of the executed contract to the Times Observer "as soon as it is available."
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ugal62
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10-15-09 5:28 PM
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I wonder why they don't post the salaries of the administration.
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ThinkMuch
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10-15-09 12:36 PM
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Muskie, I think you have a point there. You worked all that time and didn't make as much as that and now you two have to pay too much for health insurance.If we want our kids to do better than we are, then we have to give them a good education. And with so many of the manufacturing jobs gone, we have to ready them for different employment if Warren is to survive. The great thing is, with global technology they won't have to leave to succeed. But they will haved to educated.
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utherjorge
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10-15-09 6:14 AM
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Muskie, I'm not sure how smart you are. What do you suggest, paying less than they are now, so the salaries for teacers would be lowest in the state? You know, just because you don't have children in school doesn't mean that children aren't important.
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muskie
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10-14-09 8:23 PM
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I don't care what the State average for teachers wages is either,this is Warren County,it should be called Poor County.You can't keep supporting a "dream team" of teachers on a minimum wage tax base.
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muskie
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10-14-09 8:16 PM
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Warren County is one of the poorest in the State,job loss,most industry has left,low incomes,sherriff sales,etc.,almost nothing but minimum wage jobs. I But I was shocked with the teachers wages. No wonder our taxes are so high. I realize they have to pay to go to college,that's their choice. I worked 31 years at a local steel mill,doing a skilled machinest job. I never even came close to making what these teachers START at!Even with tons of overtime! AND I had to work 12 months out of the year. And what a joke with what they pay for insurance,$18.00 a MONTH for single,GET REAL! My wife makes $12,000.00 a year and has to shell out $300.00 a month for our insurance. You can imagine what we are living on. I don't make what SHE does. Where's it going to end? With the teachers making $100-$150-$200 thousand a year in the future? Something has to change sometime or the whole County will be up for Sherriff sale. How many of you are getting 4% raises a year? Most are taking cuts.
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fivealive
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10-14-09 1:59 PM
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Some of lowest pay in the state, buildings in need of repair and a dysfunctional school board...great recruiting points for attracting new, talented teachers.
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brianhagberg
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10-14-09 12:58 PM
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How are they making it sound negative? The numbers are there in black and white, the writer didn't just make up the state averages or where Warren County teachers rank. Personally I thought it was common knowledge that county teachers were among the lowest paid in the state...apparently I was mistaken.
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Oliver
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10-14-09 12:42 PM
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Just like Sami to make something out of nothing.
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samibigelow
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10-14-09 10:47 AM
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Just like the paper to sound negative on teacher's pay. They are required to have masters degrees, have to attend more schooling each year to maintain their status as teachers. Their pay is also much lower than others with masters degrees in industry and business. Check it out yourself on line. I am sure this fits with the consolidation push. Make the teachers look like they get paid too much for what they do. If you can read this, thank a teacher.
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