Senate Bill 161 is scheduled to be heard on the floor of the Senate tomorrow. And while I certainly like the sponsor, this bill is just another awful attack on schools that will ultimately hurt them in the long run, and it does nothing for raising teacher salaries.
As noted on South Dakota Searchlight,
Sioux Falls Republican Sen. Sue Peterson told the state Senate Education Committee she introduced Senate Bill 161 to close the gap between the average salaries of teachers and administrators in South Dakota.
And..
The legislation would cap administrative salaries at three times a district’s average teacher salary.
And..
There is no nationwide ranking for average administrator pay by state through a professional organization like the National Education Association teacher salary listing, according to Rob Monson, executive director for School Administrators of South Dakota.
Monson, who spoke with South Dakota Searchlight after the committee hearing, also said he does not have complete data to compare the state’s administrative and teacher salaries.
Read the entire story here.
Close the gap? it does anything but.
So the comparison between teacher salaries and administrator salaries is anecdotal at best, and nobody has any real ranking of where administrator salaries really are.
About the only thing I can tell you is that the pool of competent administrators is not more and more plentiful. It is shrinking as fewer people have any interest in going into education in South Dakota. And when you see legislation like this, can you really blame them?
If I learned anything from being married to my wife (Dr. Powers) who rose up through the ranks from being a teacher in special education, and eventually became a school administrator for a number of years, it’s that if you have good teachers, most often that’s because they were fostered and mentored by good administrators.
A School Administrator isn’t someone who says “this teacher goes here and this teacher goes here.” It’s far more complex than this legislation remotely gives administrators credit for.
In my wife’s role as a special ed administrator, I know she supervised well over 100 employees across 6 or 7 schools, and dealt with complicated issues with both teaching staff, professional specialties such as therapists, school psychs, etc. and complex students with everything ranging from mild learning disabilities to those receiving end-of-life care, but who were still eligible for a free and appropriate public education that needed to be delivered while they were receiving nursing care. And working to ensure compliance with both state and federal law in an attempt to keep the school district from being sued or found liable for civil rights violations.
Oh, most of these staff being supervised? They have masters level or doctoral degrees, as is required of the administrators.
If you are at the superintendent level, you absolutely have to have a doctoral degree, and you do all those things plus you are leading several hundred employees in a district the size of Brookings, you have to be a construction/project manager, public affairs director, you formulate and set a $75 million budget, and you are on call 24 hours a day. And I am quite sure I am leaving out massive parts of what they are responsible for.
Administrators are paid what the market rate in the region is, and that’s if the school district can find an administrator willing to do the job. Superintendents in this current environment are lucky if they can spend five or six years at the same position before the political environment demands a change. There is no guaranteed longevity and retirement after 20 years in a town at an administrators position, especially at a time when state politics are toxic towards educators. They know they are going into a short-term gig, but they also are going to be required to fully set up roots in the community. That does affect what they will go to work for.
What will happen if this legislation passes, and districts are unable to find a qualified administrator? There is a reason many school districts contract with search firms to find a superintendent. They don’t grow on trees, and as noted the market is shrinking.
I would venture a district who can’t find a leader at the price this legislation would hamstring them to will have to contract with an outside co-op or other organization for short-term district management for the district at a higher price then they would pay on a regular two-year contract basis. Alternatively, they might find somebody willing to do it on the cheap. Hoping they aren’t setting themselves up for mediocrity.
If Senator Peterson and other legislators want to find a way to improve teacher salaries, they need to pay attention to the adage that “you don’t build a house by pulling down someone else’s,” because that is all this legislation does.
If we agree we want to pay teachers more in comparison to administrators, start in the budget by keeping teacher salaries in pace with inflation. And find them more money.
Knuckle down and give them an existing revenue source or add new ones. Dedicate solar or pipeline revenues to education on top of existing sources. Do something besides give it lip service.
On this and other measures that legislators claim will make education better, legislators should quit trying to blow up the school for fireplace kindling, and then try to claim it will somehow be a victory because we have firewood to use.
Vote no on Senate Bill 161 tomorrow. For your local school’s sake.
(Update – The bill failed on a vote of 13 yea, and 22 nay votes.)