Governor's nudge helps raise pay

Teachers across Nebraska are winning pay raises in a tough economy, and union officials credit stimulus money and a controversial letter from the governor.

The pay raises have come despite uncertainty in how school districts will cover expanding payrolls when stimulus money runs out.

Some school board members have complained that Gov. Dave Heineman wrote a letter encouraging teachers union leaders to work with school districts to spend the stimulus for better salaries.

Heineman said his letter just expressed the “big picture” view that the state needs a sustained effort to keep salaries competitive.

With about half the local teachers unions in Nebraska reporting, contract settlements indicate a 3.2 percent increase in average pay for starting teachers, said Larry Scherer, director for bargaining and research with the Nebraska State Education Association.

If the remaining contracts trend that way — and some big districts have yet to settle — Nebraska's teacher pay could jump up in the national rankings, NSEA President Jess Wolf said.

“I really do think we're going to go up a few places,” Wolf said. “I just don't know how many.”

The union has repeatedly cited Nebraska's low ranking in calling for better pay.

Nebraska ranked 44th among the 50 states in 2007-08 with an average public school teacher salary of $42,885. Adjusted for cost of living, the state improves to 27th.

So far, base pay for Nebraska teachers in the new contracts is averaging $28,960, up from $28,028 in 2008-09.

Stimulus money also is having an effect in Iowa, where the average pay of $46,664 ranked 30th in the annual National Education Association survey, 16th when adjusted. The stimulus money allowed the state to avoid cuts in salary funding.

Teachers there have set a goal of reaching 25th in the average pay rankings, and they are looking to the Iowa Legislature's commitment of $210 million annually to supplement teacher salaries to help get them there, according to Jon Studer, Government Relations and Research Specialist for the Iowa State Education Association.

In Nebraska, Wolf credited Heineman's June 9 letter for helping at the bargaining table.

After the Nebraska Legislature earmarked $234 million in federal stabilization funds to state aid for schools over the next two years, Heineman wrote to union leaders encouraging them to work with school districts to see that the money was spent “where we know it matters most — in the classroom.”

Heineman wrote that he was “skeptical of mandating how school districts spend their state aid, but I've grown increasingly concerned that the substantial increases in state aid have not been reflected in teacher pay.”

In one district, Wolf said, the union negotiators “sent the letter across the table, the board went out and came in and made them another offer.”

However, John Bonaito, executive director of the Nebraska Association of School Boards, said the letter “did not sway boards in the least.”

“Frankly, the governor's letter was more of an irritant to board members than anything,” Bonaito said. “It was an area that they really did not believe he should have inserted his encouragement for higher teacher salaries — in a process that's already difficult.”

Boards work hard all year around to have good teacher morale, he said. When they have the money to invest in their professional staff and sustain it, they do it, he said.

This year, boards were worried about giving raises and not being able to sustain funding later on, he said.

Heineman said his letter was meant to convey the need for a sustained multiyear effort to bring up salaries.

“I was talking about the big picture, that we significantly increased state aid over the last four or five years, and that that ought to be reflected in higher teacher salaries,” he said.

Heineman said districts have two years to prepare for the drop-off in funding, the so-called cliff effect, the size of which will depend on the speed of economic recovery.

“The good news, at least, is Nebraska's better prepared. We're one of the few states not in a fiscal crisis. And so I think we can weather the storm. The question will be what growth rate can we grow two to three years from now.”

Wolf said that other states are in worse shape, using stimulus money just to stay afloat, which is one reason Nebraska may jump in the rankings.

In California, for example, teachers lost jobs, which didn't happen here, he said.

Without stimulus money, he said, bargaining “would have been much, much, much more difficult.”

NSEA's main goal has been to stay competitive with surrounding states, he said.

“Wyoming and Iowa, because they put in so many state dollars, kind of stick out as really great,” Wolf said. “But comparing us to Missouri and Kansas and Colorado, I think we've got a shot at getting a little improvement there.”

Wyoming, for example, has used state revenue from natural resources to boost salaries to help recruit teachers, he said. With a starting salary topping $40,000 and average pay ranked eighth in 2007-08 when adjusted, Wyoming has lured teachers from western Nebraska, he said.

Union leaders say rising health care and retirement costs are eating up some of the teacher pay raises.

Educators Health Alliance, the most common insurance plan for Nebraska teachers, is increasing premium rates an average of 7.7 percent, NSEA spokeswoman Karen Kilgarin said.

Some districts pay the whole cost of health insurance, while others require an employee contribution. Teachers have also seen increases in co-pays and deductibles, and have been asked to contribute more to retirement, she said.

World-Herald staff writer Henry Cordes contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com

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