The state of Nebraska is sending nearly $1 billion a year to local school districts to help educate our children.
JESS WOLF | Posted: Thursday, July 2, 2009 12:00 am
The state of Nebraska is sending nearly $1 billion a year to local school districts to help educate our children - yet a Lincoln Journal Star editorial calls the governor "meddlesome" for encouraging school districts to spend some of that state aid where it matters the most to education and our economy - in the classroom.
The editorial sounds a bit like a teenager who chafes at having to spend some of his clothing allowance on clothing.
Gov. Dave Heineman's letter rightly focuses attention on a problem that must be addressed - and he certainly has standing to do so, as do state senators and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, the only member of Nebraska's congressional delegation to vote for the stimulus package.
Over the past 5 years, state aid to education has increased by more than $300 million. On what are school districts spending that money? Our surrounding states have made concerted efforts to improve teachers' salaries - and they have succeeded, leaving Nebraska in the dust.
Nebraska is ranked a dismal 45th in the nation in average salaries for teachers - more than $9,000 below the national average. Our beginning teacher salaries rank even lower at 47th in the nation. (The data used for these rankings come from the 50 state departments of education, unlike the editorial's odd use of a "new Web site" and no explanation of its "proprietary" methodology.)
Recruiting and retaining quality teachers in Nebraska is becoming more difficult. Nearly every Wyoming school district starts teachers at more than $40,000. All adjacent states (except South Dakota) can boast of higher teacher salaries.
Indeed, Nebraska taxpayers subsidize the college educations for our young people but lose that investment as our teacher college grads choose to work in states that pay teachers substantially higher salaries.
A check of school districts' budgets over the past few years shows that the percentage of the budget spent on teachers' salaries has consistently declined. If those percentages would have shown a slight increase, we would not be in the situation we face today. It is well past time for Nebraska school districts to prioritize improving teacher salaries - not the newest, fastest computers and not new carpeting.
The $234 million in federal stimulus that the governor and Legislature approved for K-12 schools is not to be parked in a school district's reserve fund. It is to be spent to "stimulate" Nebraska's economy.
That is exactly what providing competitive salaries for teachers will accomplish. Teachers and other education employees spend their earnings at their community's local grocery store, hardware store, gas station and department store.
That's Economic Stimulus 101 - and it is exactly what the federal stimulus plan is meant to do. The federal dollars used for the state aid increase replaced what were to be state funds and, yes, the hope and the goal is that the state's economy will improve enough over the next two years that the stimulus funds will be replaced with state funds.
The editorial notes that some districts will not receive an increase in state aid. That is to be expected as our state aid formula is needs-based - meaning those districts not receiving state aid increases have the resources, including an adequate property tax base, available to meet the educational needs of that community. Regardless of how much state aid a district receives, competitive teacher salaries must be a budget priority.
Finally, a quick review of Heineman's tenure shows that he consistently has supported competitive salaries for teachers. He genuinely believes that quality education is a key to the state's economic engine and that you won't get quality education without a quality teacher at the head of the classroom.
I also should note that the governor's position is supported by extensive research showing that investing in K-12 education provides a greater economic return than does investing in any other public endeavor.
Indeed, as opposed to "complicating the discussions on teacher salaries" as the editorial suggests, the governor's letter has focused the discussion on the importance of putting money for education where it will do the most good: providing competitive salaries that will help Nebraska recruit and retain quality teachers for our children - the most important resource for our future.
Jess Wolf is from Hartington and taught science for 30 years before being elected president of the 28,000-member Nebraska State Education Association.