Special to the Cape Charles Mirror by John T. Ordeman
In the accompanying article on the teaching staffs of the Accomack and Northampton County Public Schools, I identified the difficulty that the school systems have in retaining faculty, particularly those who have come from off the Shore, as one of the major problems facing our school Boards and administrators. The primary problem, obviously, is financial, for the salaries offered by our schools are very substantially less than those in neighboring areas. Our supervisors and School Board members are aware of this problem, but they have not addressed it directly and given it the priority of attention required to solve it. Our school administrators’ ability to hire the best available teachers must be limited by the simple fact that these people can make substantially more money elsewhere. I suggest that the salary scale be amended to raise, by a substantial amount, the salaries of teachers in the first ten years of their employment — from $32,000 to $40,000 for a promising young person just out of college and that the incentives and opportunities for them to improve their professional qualifications be increased.
I don’t mean to disparage in any way the people who teach in our schools, but I do believe that in hiring new teachers, we should put ourselves in the position of being able to compete for the best. Would you choose to go to a second-rate doctor or dentist because his fees were lower than those charged by one who is first-rate? I believe Eastern Shore citizens would not object to a tax increase if they knew that the money would be used to make teacher salaries fair and competitive.
The second major problem for teacher retention is the dissatisfaction some teachers moving to the Shore have with the lack of amenities and social activities that they are used to finding in other less rural areas. That anyone would not be delighted to be able to enjoy the Eastern Shore life style may surprise and bewilder those of us who feel privileged to be able to live here, but Eastern Shore life is obviously not for everyone. We know, however that young people who have grown up on the Shore would, for the most part, choose to live here if they could find suitable employment. We often hear, however, of graduates of our high schools who, having earned college degrees, are unable to find jobs that match their interests and meet their financial needs here on the Shore. What about teaching?
I think that we could alleviate both of the major problems of teacher recruiting and retention if we could persuade our young people who have the qualities one looks for in a superior teacher to consider making a career in the teaching profession. Here is my suggestion: call it the Teacher Intern Program. Teachers and administrators in our high schools would identify several seniors who they think have the ability and the personal qualities they believe are required of an excellent teacher. These students would be invited to meet with a selection committee, who would explain the requirements of the Student Intern Program and encourage them to apply. The students who were selected as interns would be required to pursue a course of study in college that would lead to teacher certification. They could major in education or in an academic field in which they would be interested in teaching, and they would receive a stipend of $2,500 each year that they were in college, so long as they maintained a satisfactory record and continued in an appropriate course of study. The interns would be guaranteed that, upon graduation, they would be offered a teaching position in the schools of the county that had sponsored them, and they would receive a signing bonus of $5,000 when they accepted a three-year contract.
The intem program would, I believe, be an effective means of encouraging well-qualified students to choose teaching as their profession. An additional advantage to our schools would be the fact that the teachers hired through this process would be young people who know the Eastern Shore and want to live here. The investment of $15,000 would, t believe, be money very well-spent.
My third and, for the time being at least, final suggestion is for an effort to be made by the community to make the new teachers who come from other areas feel welcome on the Eastern Shore and learn to appreciate all that the area offers so that they will want to stay here and become a permanent members of their schools’ faculties. The new-comers could be given complimentary tickets to ESO’s Shore Made Music Festival and the ballets and to the performances sponsored by ACES and Arts Enter. Restaurants could offer vouchers for a free dinner. They could be given free admission passes to the Barrier Island Center and Ker Place. Southeast Expeditions could offer a kayak tour of the barrier islands with a picnic lunch. CBES could offer free registration for the Between-the-Waters Bike Tour. Churches or civic groups could put on welcoming suppers. There are many things that community organizations could do to help those who come here, finding themselves in unfamiliar surroundings and knowing no one, feel they are among people who appreciate their being here and want to demonstrate their appreciation with friendship.
The ability of our schools to recruit and retain excellent teachers is essential to their being abte to offer a high quality educational experience to our children. The offering of a high quality educational experience to our children is an obligation of all citizens of the Eastem Shore. We must all, therefore, insist that our schools are staffed with excellent teachers, and we must all be willing to do what is required, financially and through other means of support, to achieve that goal.
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Great idea!
Yes!! And all of the above, ASAP, please.
It is financial. Even more it is the often lack of support from parents. Many parents think there child can never be wrong and will lash out at the teacher rather than hold their child accountable. Nor do they take responsibility for the lack of respect displayed by the children and themselves.
“I believe Eastern Shore citizens would not object to a tax increase if they knew that the money would be used to make teacher salaries fair and competitive.”
Actually, they would…. and they have. Which is why the taxes haven’t been raised much the last 10 yrs …..
When your hr rep has to go to recruiting fairs and stand next to districts that offer 8-10k more a year for first year teachers, it’s almost embarrassing to be there. We aren’t even people’s second choice. We are last resorts.
I can guarantee people don’t come here because they don’t like the shore. They don’t come here because they cant make enough to live. Coupled with neighboring states like Delaware offering 10k signing bonus and much better rates on Health care?!?
This is a great article and I love the teacher intern idea but it’s largely a pipe dream due to the lack of funding for it. 15k per person, let’s say 4 people a year…. that’s 90k. Where is it gonna come from????
The county board of supervisors actually provides more than they are legally responsible each year, usually by about 30-33%. The issue with our funding, while yes is local and what the county deems necessary here, is a state one. Our funding from the state level is dependent upon what’s called the composite index. According to the state we have more money and are more wealthy than we actually are due to the farms and waterfront property. The state believes we tax those properties the way they would when in reality we don’t. According to this formula, we wealthier than almost all of the neighboring counties. You want to fix our pay? Fix what happens in Richmond because raising the taxes here is only going to make people even more pissed off at our schools.
Let’s make it happen! I believe the quality of education is the biggest problem the Virginia Eastern shore is facing. The “welcome package” for new teachers would cost nothing. Also, the school system or community should have social events (Note: plural) to give new teachers the opportunity to meet each other. Excellent ideas.
There have been studies that say that job satisfaction is usually not based on the salary one receives..It looks to me like that salary is ok…What do the actual teachers say? As I recall we used to get teachers from New Jersey and Pennsylvania because they could not get first year teaching jobs there..so started with us..Fortunately sometimes the girls married local guys and stayed!!!! but usually they moved back to to their home states after their year of “experience” here…
do a survey and find our from the teachers..A lot of young people from here would probably come back..if there were a bigger promotion path..Some of them move back here…work in Maryland or across the bay..and I think are happy to be back on the shore and yet can ..with a commute…still be on an upward trajectory..re promotion etc.
One must remember..since I came to the school system from a full time 12 month job…the teachers get vacations..and lots of them…full summer, easter, christmas..and , as i did previously…knowing my pay was being cut back…must allow for that time off when they look at the salaries they are receiving…
That time off is worth gold…(my thoughts of course)……and i would venture to say…a teacher isn’t worth his salt if he doesn’t consider the value of that vacation time..
There are often summer jobs in the schools that the teachers can get if they need to supplement their 10 month minus income.. (even though it is paid throughout the year). You might even find that the teachers like the time off and/or the short term job as a good break. But you have to survey THEM to find out…figure a lot of different answers will be obtained.. sandra beerends
Note: Thank you for the comment, and you make a great point about the amount of time off the profession offers. We are in the process of interviewing some teachers, however we think in some ways it is similar to interviewing Sasquatch…have heard they are out there, but have not had a lot of luck getting them into the conversation.
a follow-up re increasing teacher salaries… One has to consider what salaries the experienced teachers are getting..might be the same as you are proposing in raising salaries for new teachers..
Years ago I remember reading some statistics for the state of Virginia…In this case it was noticeable in many counties that the ranking of the administrators’ salaries was way higher than those of the teachers…For instance I think I remember in Accomack County..the administrative salaries ranked seventh in the state ..while the salaries of the teachers were fortieth!!! Administrators don’t teach..maybe it would be helpful for them to get back in the classroom once in awhile ..and earn their keep..As I said I dont’ know if this is true currently..and /or if it is true in Northampton county..Thus , maybe some salaries should be decreased when others are raised? Just a thought!!! s.
I am not sure how to fix the problem, but I do know that the problem is the salary. Many of us absolutely love the shore, the culture, the children we’ve taught, the families we’ve worked with, and the community in general. This is such a unique place and many teachers would love to stay and work here and start a family here, but unfortunately the pay does not provide the opportunity to do so. Also, almost every teacher I know does take on a second and sometimes a third job as a way to supplement income… but it still isn’t enough. Please know that many of us newer teachers would LOVE to stay here but unfortunately it is not feasible with health care costs and student loan debt. I would also like to point out that the churches and community organizations have provided donations, help, and even lunches for staff. Some of the business’s in town are not as receptive in offering incentives for new teachers, but often times they are relatively new to the area as well. Finally, I would like to point out the lack of rental properties for new teachers. Finding a place to rent is extremely hard, and more often than not, we are told to leave after a year or two so that the property can be turned into a vacation rental.
I would like to thank Mr.Ordeman for his very practical suggestions concerning the ongoing problem of teacher retention. Some of his ideas have been suggested by current school board members including the suggestion that the school board use a scholarship program to help with the college expenses incurred with local students in which they would return to teach for a specified number of years. Unfortunately financial restrictions have rendered this idea moot. The present elected board when first taking office were basically presented with a budget which we could tinker with but make few changes at that time. We did make very well known our feelings that the teachers who had not received a step raise for several years needed relief. Our then Superintendent made a proposal to the board of supervisors that the money left over that year which was considerable due to a larger ADM than budgeted for as well as savings from fuel and electrical costs and substitute teachers savings be used to finance this raise. Unfortunately the following years budget was difficult as we had to finance that step increase (which had not been a part of the previous years budget) plus the step the school board for the following year which we managed to do. Each year the elected school board has managed to fund a small raise (a step increase) for the teachers. This is not to say that their salaries are in line with teachers in adjoining districts as Northampton County is the lowest paying in our region. I know first hand the salary limitations for our teachers as on my fortieth year teaching I cracked the $50,000 bracket. Raising new teachers pay to $40,000 would I believe attract more interest and more applicants to our system. The only problem is that those teachers who have been here for several years would be making less than the newbies. Obviously their salaries would have to be raised also. All of these suggestions cost money and therein is the rub. The school system gets most of its money from the state and the local government. The state determines the amount a system receives through a formula called the composite index which shows that Northampton County is richer than Virginia Beach, Newport News, Gloucester, Harrisonburg (home of James Madison University), as well as Accomac County. That rather surreal fact means that we get less money per student than those communities do. This situation coupled with the fact that a significant amount of our land is in AFD’s in which those taxes are significantly less than what they would be otherwise causes extreme problems for the school board as well as the board of supervisors. The school system is in even more dire straits as our high school-middle school is literally crumbling around us and must be replaced in the immediate future. It is very frustrating for the present members of the school board as well as the superintendent to come up with ideas we know would improve things for our children yet the costs, even the small costs, render them impossible. To the individual who believes the present teacher salaries are sufficient, let him or her try to live on that much money. Between health insurance and rent (both of which have increased significantly in the past few years) teachers have little left to pay for all their other expenses. My advice is to walk in their shoes for a while and see the reality of their situation. Thanks to all those citizens who both read and responded to Mr. Ordeman’s suggestions.