NSEA seeks initiative 'to keep up with the neighbors' salaries
In January, the Nebraska State Education Association will propose an initiative to the Nebraska Legislature to supplement teachers' salaries, in an effort to make the salaries of public school educators competitive with neighboring states.
Nebraska ranks 43rd nationally in teachers' average salaries, and 47th in beginning teachers' salaries, said NSEA president Jess Wolf of Lincoln, during a stop in McCook Tuesday.
Iowa and Wyoming state governments supplement negotiated salaries paid by individual school districts, Wolf said. Iowa recently passed a $145 million legislation that will increase the average salary for Iowa teachers by $5,400 over the next two years. Wyoming has raised teachers' salaries by $8,000 over the past two years.
Karen Kilgarin, the NSEA's communications director, explained that the supplement in Iowa is a direct appropriation from the state coffers, not from a property tax levy.
Wolf said that Nebraska's commitment to K-12 education relies very heavily on property taxes. The NSEA would prefer, he said, that a supplement come from state coffers, from an education trust fund created with part of the state's projected $542 million surplus.
"Create a trust fund, build on the principal and use the interest to supplement teachers' salaries," Kilgarin said. She said that the Legislature would also be asked to designate funds for the education fund.
Wolf said, too, that the sales tax on internet sales could be earmarked for the education fund, rather than going into the state's general fund.
Wolf is concerned that if Nebraska takes no steps to improve teachers' salaries, both beginning teachers and experienced teachers will be lured across state lines by better salaries, and fewer young adults will look at education as viable career choices.
Both scenarios will create teacher shortages across the state, he said.
Forty percent of Nebraska's teachers are nearing or at retirement age, Wolf said, leaving vacancies to be filled by education graduates. But 20 percent of new teachers leave teaching after just one year, and 46 percent of new teachers leave the field within the first five years, he said.
Wolf believes these stats are fueled by salaries that won't support young young adults, couples or families, and, at the same time, pay off college debts that can be as high as $24,000.
Nebraska's average starting salary of $25,328 (compared to the national average of $32,136) isn't enough to keep someone above poverty levels, Wolf said.
Wolf and Kilgarin agreed that the NSEA's efforts are aimed not only at "keeping up with the neighbors" and keeping Nebraska's teachers here, but also at improving the quality of life for teachers who stay in the state.