House Bill 2573: A good approach to attracting teachers
With Baby Boomers retiring, public schools and the state need to ramp up their efforts to attract and retain quality teachers. We think House Bill 2573 is a common sense approach to doing so because it targets key problem areas, including low beginning teacher pay, help for rural and underserved areas, and boosting recruiting efforts.
The bill was recently heard by the House Education Committee in Olympia. We hope it gains enough support to become law.
Locally, we understand it is difficult to find substitute and full-time teachers to work in some Basin schools. One example can be found in Othello. To attract staff, the Othello School District currently offers a $1,500 moving stipend with a signed contract for new teachers, according to the district’s website. We’re not aware of other districts that offer teachers help with moving expenses in our area but would be interested in learning more. Othello has been proactive and should be commended for its approach. We hope it is a sustainable idea.
Taking Othello’s approach a step further, House Bill 2573 would create a hiring bonus system for new teachers from out of state and new teachers in state who work in rural school districts, high-poverty areas and in schools with identified equity gaps.
House Bill 2573 proposes that beginning teacher pay increase, as part of a recommendation by the Compensation Technical Working Group. According to the group’s report titled “Comprehensive Technical Working Group Final Report,” beginning teachers with bachelor’s degrees should make $48,687 per year, and first-year teachers with master’s degrees should earn $52,582 annually. Starting teachers currently earn $35,069 and those with a master’s degree are paid $42,045, according to the state’s salary scale.
If the bill passes, retired teachers, depending on the retirement system they’re enrolled in, could return to teach and still collect retirement benefits. Retired teachers could only come out of retirement if their school district has a shortage of substitute teachers.
Having an adequate pool of substitutes would help keep existing teachers from burning out or working when they’re sick.
The bill also requires the state to create a system (central repository) for school districts to share information on available teacher applicants.
Aside from the bill, we should look at other areas to help the teaching profession, students and schools. We suggest a closer look be taken at state certification requirements for substitute teachers. Currently, there are “limited” teaching certificates available for the length of an assignment for contracted (non-certified) and substitute teachers, according to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instructions website.
We wonder if all the requirements deter people who have good management skills, noncriminal backgrounds, and subject matter knowledge from applying to teach. It is a question worth exploring. We don’t suggest the state lessen its standards, but, instead, continue to look at other approaches to solving the problems. We clearly realize that not everyone can teach, and not everyone should teach or be around children.
The Grandview School District has 31 teachers who do not have full teaching certificates and six emergency substitutes teach full-time, according to a Jan. 28 story in the Columbia Basin Herald. Only a two-year associate’s degree is required to substitute teach in Grandview. Grandview Superintendent Kevin Chase testified at the bill’s hearing in Olympia, explaining his district’s difficult situation.
For more information, read the Compensation Technical Working Group’s report at www.k12.wa.us?/Compensation/CompTe?chWorkGroupReport/Co?mpTechWorkGroup.pdf.
— Editorial Board