Want to Know More About SPS Teacher Pay?

A former teacher has compiled so much data, she created a blog for called:

SPS Salary Info for Contract Negotiations 

Unfortunately, I don't know who this person is (see bio at end) but the material (and tone) is such that I believe this is another Meg Diaz-type person who likes being in the weeds.

I present it for public information purposes but ask that if you see flaws/enhancements, etc. that you add them.  The first sentence below is indicative of the issue before us in how BOTH the district and the SEA have not clearly stated their salary issues.

ALL of this is publicly available information, but it's not presented in an understandable form anywhere.

There are some additional minor "quirks" of calculating the salary tables, but I do not currently have the information to add those (TRI actually breaks down further into time (per diem) and responsibility). Based on the accuracy of the results I got from using these formulas to re-calculate the 2014-2015 salary schedule, I believe they have little to no effect on such short-term projections.

None of the salary schedules take into account rising health care deductions, which have reduced teachers' take home pay over the years. Small yearly adjustments to TRI in lieu of nonexistent COLA increases have not kept teachers' take home pay from going backwards. It also doesn't change the fact that the contract often does not protect teachers from having more and more duties pushed on them over time, resulting in doing more work for the same (or less) money. This also means teachers have to spend even more time outside their normal workday prepping and doing all the "little things" they don't have time for anymore during the day.



About me: I am a parent of one graduate of SPS and one current student. I have a Master's Degree in education and teaching certification from another state. (I am not teaching currently.) Transparency is very important to me when it comes to our public institutions. I have pretty darn good math and Excel skillz, and the tenacity to chase down and make this info available. 

Comments

Watching said…
IMO bOTH the district and the SEA have not clearly stated costs associated with proposals.

SPS received $37M from the state and I'm not able to find those dollars. We're seeing proposals for enhancements and I'm not seeing a break down of these costs.

I'm on a search for key financial documents, as well.

It is worth noting: Within the past three years, the cost of operating the district has increased by $115M.
9/14/15, 9:53 AM
Anonymous said…
I thought this was a relevant article about the Teacher Shortage issue http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/after-years-of-cuts-school-districts-face-teacher-shortages/ar-AAegxK8


That is a good thing is that on Friday I passed the first test to getting my license in another state and two more to go.

I called my union on Friday and was told to go to DSHS for help. I think the Post office to get the process started is a better decision.

It may not be better elsewhere (as let's get real Teaching is the nations whipping boy) but it won't be here. After 20 plus years I have seen and heard it all and it has never gotten better frankly, but I can assure you I have seen pockets of greatness and those inspire me every day. So to those in those schools and those kids really it is the kids for whom I am grateful. Apple and tree clearly are well loved.

But to the great parents and the few brave Teachers that actually put their name out there (I wouldn't as again this is a vindictive district) you are greatly appreciated.

If anything came out of this strike for me was knowing that some of my observations were not singular and I am not as alone as I thought. So thank you.

Off to the Post Office and then apparently to DSHS. This should be interesting.

- SPS Ignored Staff

9/14/15, 10:19 AM
Anonymous said…
Teacher shortage per NPR. CA is hurting. States which laid off teachers during the recession are now finding it harder to find teachers as their economies rebound because teachers moved onto richer pasture or other career.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/08/19/432724094/teacher-shortage-or-teacher-pipeline-problem

OTOH, my source tells me Fairfax county, VA is hiring. Arlington too, but competition is tighter with better pay.

reader

9/14/15, 4:01 PM
Anonymous said…
This is great. Can the individual who prepared this email me at teacherpaymodels@yahoo.com?

I have been crunching through this data too and am trying to build similar tools to model past pay and benefits issues to both for teacher use and public analysis. I have the same issue with perfectly locking down the TRI pay beyond the factors (the per diem issue may be it and I have emails out requesting clarification already).

Thanks,
John
9/14/15, 7:01 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more