Number of veteran teachers drives BASD’s high wage rank

But administrators say new policy will change compensation approach in future

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Staff writer

Fact: The average salary for the Burlington Area School District staff member is more than $60,000 for the 2011-12 school year – higher than most school districts in the state.

Also fact: The staff’s salaries are determined by what has commonly been referred to as “steps and lanes,” which factors in both years of experience and education – and BASD teachers, as a whole, are high on both.

As BASD School Board challenger Philip Ketterhagen has pointed out in recent weeks, the district’s average of $60,562 ranks not just among the highest average salary in the area, but in the state.

Comparing the 2010-11 data from the DPI (2011-12 data was not available), the statement is true. BASD’s average salary for staff for the 2010-11 school year was $60,562, with 26 other districts (out of more than 400 districts) paying higher salaries, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Ketterhagen has maintained that an advantage in fringe benefits – the average benefits package for BASD teachers for 2010-11 was $29,775 – is more than generous and rather than cutting teachers pay, he would approach the benefits for cuts.

The numbers are more complex than just quoting averages, however, with numerous districts paying higher individual wages or fringe benefits than BASD – many with less experience.

But the question of how much salaries for teachers will be in the future – and how they will be determined – remains very much in flux right now as a result of changes in collective bargaining rules brought on by Act. 10.

In taking a look at the district’s 2011-12 teachers salaries, benefits, experience and education, one simple fact becomes clear: a large portion of the BASD teaching staff has approached or reached the top of the pay scale as set by the district.

But as BASD Superintendent David Moyer has pointed out, that system of determining pay is coming to an end – and the new method should provide a pay scale that more accurately reflects a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom.

“It’s really not consistent with what modern-day teachers are being asked to do,” Moyer said Tuesday about the old “steps and lanes,” procedure. He will put a new scale in a rough-draft format before the School Board Monday night. “Between five and seven years of experience is when the impact of experience becomes kind of negligible.

“And degrees and credits are also very loosely coupled with teacher effectiveness.”

The goal, he said, is to pay teachers what they are worth – with worth being defined not just by experience and education, but effectiveness in the classroom.

“You want to create a structure that has some assurances and connections to actual teaching effectiveness and competence,” Moyer said. “Currently, you really don’t have that.”

BASD salary structure

Of the 248 teachers and staff (including guidance counselors, but not administrators) in the Burlington Area School District, 98 of them have reached the top of the “steps and lanes” salary schedule – which maxes out at $69,356. That is also the high salary listed in the 2010-11 DPI data.

That number reflects not just the top of the experience ladder, but a master’s degree plus 36 or more credits. It also does not reflect “extra” pay for co-curricular activities such as coaching.

But, strictly looking at education, the number of teachers within BASD with a master’s degree? A whopping 202 of the 248.

“I think the salaries probably do look higher than other districts because of the veteran staff that we have,” said Assistant Superintendent Connie Zinnen. “We’ve had very little turnover in our district in the last few years.

“I think that that says this is a good place to work, and a good place to live.”

Add in the 2010-11 fringe benefits average of $29,775 (which includes retirement benefits) and teachers in Burlington are making good money – in fact, higher than most of the districts in the state.  BASD, however, ranks just outside of the top quarter in the state in average total experience.

State averages

In looking at the state averages, BASD’s average salary ranks 27th. Among the districts with a higher average are Arrowhead, D.C. Everest (a high school district near Wausau), Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Hartford, Kaukauna, Kohler, Mequon-Thiensville, Muskego and Oak Creek.

Many of those schools have a staff with less experience than Burlington’s average of 16.63 years per staff member. No information was available on education levels.

However, Burlington’s fringe benefits average of $29,775 ranked behind 58 others districts. All those districts remain in the top quarter of the state, though, in a fringe benefits average. That number is a strict average of retirement, Social Security and various insurances.

These numbers also do not reflect cost of living.

State highs

In taking a look at the high and low salaries in the state, though, it’s clear that Burlington is not at the top in pay structure.

In total, there are 113 districts that report a top salary that is higher than BASD’s, and only 25 that report a lower low salary. The numbers provided by the DPI, however, do not reflect whether the high and low numbers are actually being paid to a staff member, versus simply being the high or low number on the pay scale.

Some districts have a high number approaching $100,000, including: Arrowhead ($94,334), Westosha Central ($92,823), Kenosha Unified ($90,554), Marshfield ($89,776), Nicolet ($94,308), Racine ($89,947), Sheboygan Area ($90,073), Shorewood ($89,183), Sun Prairie ($95,743) and Whitefish Bay ($92,346). Several others have the high pay ranging from $70,000 to $89,000.

The lower numbers than Burlington range from $14,760 in Oshkosh to $25,490 in Fall Creek. BASD’s low-end pay isn’t actually being paid to a teacher right now.

A change in structures

Moyer has spoke in favor of a new wage system and stressed that the current BASD numbers reflect an outdated pay scale.

The idea, he said, is to pay teachers for the job they perform – not just the experience and education that they have.

“I think that the new system will be a different way of paying teachers,” Moyer said. “It’s a way to compensate people for their actual teaching effectiveness.

“The plan would still be to have a competitive pay schedule.”

Assistant Superintendent Peter Smet said Tuesday that while the “steps and lanes” schedule had both its negatives and positives, the state has asked districts to look at teacher effectiveness.

He also heavily stressed that the rough draft coming out next week is just that – a rough draft.

“We have to start exploring this and look at different options,” Smet said. “We’re starting to put some thoughts on paper, and can’t stress enough how much of a draft this is.”