Legislators have introduced (trotted out, marched out, or "Are you ready to rumble?") as many as two dozen teacher pay raise bills for the new legislative session, which has just begun. Many of the bills involve raising taxes and fees for the appropriate revenue, while a few also list school consolidation or dinosaur ( the governor's label for K-8 schools) consolidation as a way to raise teacher salaries. However, research indicates that consolidating schools or administrative services raises very little, if any money at all. Another enrolled bill places a cap on dirtbag (slang for superintendent) salaries as a way to increase teacher pay.
Senate Bill 133 establishes a maximum salary schedule for superintendents. Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, a school district board of education shall not enter into a new contract or renew a contract with a superintendent after the effective day of this act that exceeds the maximum compensation amounts provided for in the following schedule:
1) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) for the superintendent of a district... with an ADM (number of students) of... 250 or less;
2) ...$110,000 for the superintendent... with an ADM of 750 or less but more than 250;
3) ...$120,000 for the superintendent... with an ADM of 1,500 or less but more than 750;
4) ...$130,000 for the superintendent... with an ADM of 3,000 or less but more than 1,500;
5) ...$140,000 for the superintendent... with an ADM of 6,500 or less but more than 3,000;
6) ...$150,000 for the superintendent... with an ADM of more than 6,500.
A school district... may enter into a new contract... with a superintendent that exceeds the maximum compensation amounts... provided no state appropriated funds are used for any amount above the maximum amount allowed.
The State Board of Education... may approve a waiver of the maximum compensation amounts for any district... with an ADM of 10,000 or more.
This is the abbreviated version of the bill, but you can understand the gist of it. So, the elephant (dinosaur) in the room is the $64,000 question: How much money can be saved by capping superintendent (dirtbag) salaries? One might tend to believe that $millions will be available for teacher pay raises, since all dirtbags are millionaires, but a quick look at the salaries and facts indicate something else.
A mini-study was conducted in order to ascertain specifically how much money could be put into teacher salaries if superintendent salaries were capped according to Senate Bill 133. A random sample of salaries in districts statewide was examined and run through the proposed formula. There are approximately 530 superintendents in Oklahoma schools, so a 10% random sample (53 superintendents) of salaries and the (ADM) corresponding to each salary was "run through the formula". The amount in salaries over the maximum allowable was then multiplied by 10 in order to arrive at an approximate value (money for teacher pay raises). Although it's been sometime since I've conducted a statistically reliable and valid study, I believe my results are at least in the ballpark.
Of the 53 school districts composing the random sample, only 13 had superintendent salaries which exceeded the maximum allowable limit (approximately 25%). The total amount exceeding the maximum was $100,665, which if multiplied by 10 would amount to $1,006,665. So if the bill were passed into law, approximately $1 Million could be saved and used for teacher pay raises. This would equate to each public school teacher receiving an approximate $25 pay raise.
But wait, there's more...the clause "a school district... can exceed the maximum compensation amount... provided no state appropriated funds are used for any amount above..." basically renders the bill worthless. Many school districts receive funds which are not state appropriated, such as the local and county ad valorem monies. Some school districts receive no state appropriated dollars, only local and county, so those schools could exceed the limit at will. Also, of the 53 schools surveyed, 40 (75%) did not exceed the maximum allowable, so most teachers would receive NO pay increase. Senate Bill 133 is as big a waste of time (for the teacher pay raise bills it would purport to provide revenue) as well as all the consolidation bills.
Another reason it is a waste of time is the fact that school administrative costs already are capped. The maximum amount of school administrative costs for a school with less than 500 students is 8%. The maximum amount for a school with more than 500 but less than 1500 is 7% and for schools with more than 1500 students the cap is 5%. So, by law, administrative costs for superintendent salaries are already capped. So, SB 133 is not only redundant but it won't be effective in reducing the already basement bottom administrative costs.
The myth still lives, however, that schools have administrative costs that are too high, as Governor Fallin's "State of the State" speech testifies. All the facts and figures in the world will not convince some people that school administrative costs are at rock bottom, but we must still try to get the facts out. At least this year Governor Fallin didn't refer to our small rural schools as dinosaurs or our superintendents as dirtbags, but we're still waiting..
No comments:
Post a Comment