Board delays action on raises

May 14, 2008 02:12 pm

— By Philip Navarrette
reporter@trcle.com

A Cleburne ISD teacher salary scale for the 2008-09 school year will have to wait.
The school board decided Monday to take no action on approving a scale to allow administrators to gather more information on how — and how much — pay should be increased.
Assistant Superintendent Mike Bailey presented a salary scale that gives teachers already with the district a $1,750 salary increase. The jumps themselves compared with the 2007-08 scale vary by step, ranging between $250 and $1,583.
At the starting level, teachers would earn $41,500, up from $40,000 last year. At the highest level of the scale, teachers with 32 years experience will receive $60,594, up from $59,094.
Jennifer Dugger, the board secretary, also presented a pay scale she developed to even out pay between steps.
“Under original proposal, every teacher would get exactly the same raise, but the step from year to year varies greatly,” she said in her proposal to the board.
“Under my proposal, the average salary increase would be $1,744 per teacher with individual raises ranging from $1,050 to $3,000,” she said. “However, the step increase would be more uniform, working towards making the salary scale a straight line. This would help eliminate the dip you see around seven to 15 years of experience.”
Under Dugger’s proposal, the step increases would range between $500 and $750, less than the range in Bailey’s scale.
Though members expressed a desire to approve a scale to assist recruiting, the board decided to consider Dugger’s and let the district continue adjusting the scale so it can be presented again in the future.
The overall goal behind increasing teacher pay is to retain quality teachers while attracting new, top-caliber teachers to the district, Bailey said.