Ozark County superintendents respond to governor’s call for higher teacher salaries

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s State of the State address last week raised some eyebrows among local school administrators when he called for a pay bump for Missouri teachers.

Parson pointed to billions of federal dollars and a state surplus waiting for allocation as he called on the state and lawmakers to make “investments in the future” in raising the state minimum salary for teachers to $38,000.

“No one in this chamber would be where they are today without quality educators in their lives, myself included,” Parson said in his speech.

The governor said that teachers in Missouri currently receive the smallest starting pay of any U.S. state and often leave the state for other opportunities. He said they would receive a pay bump to $38,000 per year under his proposed budget, alongside a fully funded K-12 education formula.

“They haven’t even fully funded the current formula,” said Scot Young, Lutie superintendent.

The Ozark County Times asked local superintendents for their thoughts on the proposal, and, while they all said they were 100 percent for teacher salary increases, they were all skeptical on how and if the state would fund the governor’s plan.

“It’s a complex issue and not just about waving a magic wand and raising the base salaries for teachers,” said Amy Britt, Bakersfield superintendent, who said just increasing the base pay alone would cost the district nearly $400,000 - and that doesn’t even account for raises for teachers who’ve been with the district many years and higher on the pay scale.

“And then there’s healthcare costs,” Britt said. “Those are very significant.”

She said Bakersfield School currently has a base starting salary of $30,000 and it doesn’t have a significant issue in retaining teachers. “Sometimes filling positions is hard, especially in certain subjects,” said Britt.

Gainesville superintendent Justin Gilmore said the starting base salary for teachers there is $29,000.

“I would love to see teacher minimum salaries increase to $38,000, but the governor is going to need a sustainable funding source,” said Gilmore. “Schools like Gainesville, with a minimum tax levy of $2.75, cannot afford a large salary increase without state funding to support this increase.”

Gilmore said he is not going to get his hopes up until the Missouri legislature finds and budgets a sustainable revenue source.

Young said the base salary for teachers at Lutie is $28,496 this year, but it is set to increase next year to $30,575.

“Retainment is not an issue at Lutie,” Young said. “When we do have an opening, it’s not because they are leaving here for more money. It’s often because being an educator is hard, and they have a lifestyle change where they completely change careers.”

Britt echoed Young’s sentiments. “Teachers are called on to do a lot these days,” Britt said. “They personally sacrifice, and are asked to do much more than just teach.”

Dora superintendent Allen Woods said that for years the state legislature has been “playing a shell game with state money.”

“Currently, they say the formula is fully funded,” Wood said. “Technically that is correct by their definition, but really they are not telling the truth. In order to ‘fully fund’ the state formula, they have taken transportation out of that calculation. Transportation used to be in the foundation formula and was paid at a 70 percent-plus clip. Right now transportation is funded at 18 percent or less,” Woods said.

“So, over the years, the percentage of state money that we as a school actually get has decreased. This is a trick that I think is dirty,” Woods stated.

The superintendent said Dora has been fortunate with teacher retention. “What I am seeing is a lack of applicants for teaching jobs,” he said. “We are actively recruiting teachers to come to Dora. The reason for the lack of applicants is simple, pay.”

Woods said Dora’s base pay for teachers is $30,000.

Thornfield superintendent Melissa Campbell said if school districts paid teachers what they’re worth, the districts would all be bankrupt. She, too, echoed the other administrators’ concerns about long-term funding to pay for the proposed raises. “The raises for teachers would be great,” she said. “But what about other staff, bus drivers and administrators?”

Thornfield’s starting salary for teachers is $27,000.

“They need to quit playing politics with the schools,” Young said in conclusion on the topic. “I know being the governor or being a lawmaker is hard work. But they need to just buckle down and do their jobs.”