It is a challenge to gain efficiency and economy of scale in Idaho’s more than 100 public school districts. The problem is obvious - the “industry” of teaching is a mish-mash of policies and practices cobbled together and tinkered with over time. Employees are in Idaho’s excellent retirement system (PERSI), yet their health benefits are different district by district. Their pay comes primarily from the legislature but salaries are set locally. Some school districts are unionized and others not. A local district’s teacher union will negotiate salary and benefits independent of their brethren across the county line or in another region of the state. Some districts have an overage of teachers in a particular subject area while other districts have none. Small districts too often resort to hiring and approving non-qualified persons to commit what amounts to malpractice in the classrooms.
All-in-all only a protected and mandatory monopoly could survive this type of design, especially in today’s design driven world.
As the problems are obvious the answers are equally obvious, and simple, but the actions to achieve them are not. First, education is a function of the state, so make teachers and other school employees “State of Idaho” employees, with common benefits and a common state salary scale. This should increase the economy of health benefits and it will assuredly end the sometimes bitter bickering of yearly local contract negotiations.
Second, by moving employees’ payroll to the State, it relieves the burden district-by-district of making payroll every month. Those offices can be shut down, with only the need to write local checks for local expenses. All payroll would come out of the state treasurer’s office or other appropriate single agency.
Third, as state employees, teachers could then be transferred or assigned to areas of need, just like state police officers. For example, if Salmon doesn’t have a science teacher and Meridian has extras certified in science, transfer one to Salmon. Our children deserve no less.
Yes, there will be initial gnashing of teeth getting used to the idea, but that is the meaning of “no child left behind.” It is time for Idaho to ensure that every child in every nook and cranny of the state has a qualified teacher. It is also time to quit wasting money on 100 plus payroll offices, and time to remove the burden of local union negotiations from local school boards.
The gains from these reforms will be money smart and personnel smart. Most importantly they will allow school administrators to focus on their core mission – and that is a very sound business principle.
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5 Comments
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Have you ever *met* a teacher!? People take teaching jobs because they want to work in a low-pressure environment with 17 weeks of vacation. Even in districts with relatively low compensation, pay *starts* at $35 per hour in the classroom. Teachers will not move from Meridian to Salmon because the state asks them to, and unless you outlaw teachers unions (the surest path to educational reform!), the state couldn't even ask them to move. Comment By Joe Nobody
Friday, May 2, 2008 @ 10:22 AM
Please tell me what school pays $35 an hour? That roughly translates to $70K per year if a full 12 months, or $52.5K for a 9 months academic year. I don't know of any schools in the US, let alone Idaho, that pay a starting salary of $52.5 per year. Comment By Jeff Somebody
Friday, May 2, 2008 @ 2:48 PM
Typically I don't respond, allowing the readers to carry the debate, but a good question is raised. Starting salary in Idaho is $31K for a BA and no experience for an academic school year of approximately 9.5 months. However many Idaho teachers with experience and an advanced degree earn in the $45-55K range, with some up over $60,000 in select districts. It is not uncommon in New Jersey and a few other states for teachers to earn $70-80K. Comment By Michael Tomlin
Friday, May 2, 2008 @ 3:03 PM
This is your answer? More 'top-down' control (payroll, mandatory assignments, etc, etc)? This will be more accountable, transparent, and faster? What planet are you living on Tomlin? "Planet Stalin"? And you're supposed to be somekind of "management consultant"? Dude... technology, history, culture, and global competition is going in the EXACT OPPOSITE direction. Comment By Bill Sellers Idaho Falls
Sunday, May 4, 2008 @ 12:43 PM
Re: ...every child has a qualified teacher... Mike, this is straight out of the NEA/IEA playbook, and relies upon the ambiguity of the term "qualified." Both the NEA and IEA want to suppress the fact that the term "provide for the public education" does not mean to "provide the public education." Homeschoolers are absolutely destroying the NEA's legacy, and it's breaking their hearts (the NEA's). It also threatens to break their bank accounts, which is what centralized primary education is all about for the unions. Since education is so important, we should go with the method that has proven itself superior-"choice" in schooling. Comment By Leo A. Geis
Sunday, May 4, 2008 @ 8:21 PM
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