BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
The Union County School District, more specifically the School Board and Superintendent Mike Ripplinger, have been hard at work for more than a year, making the district a place where new teachers will come and stay.
Nationally, a serious teacher shortage exists, and school officials want to make sure that they can keep the schools fully staffed and the teachers well paid.
Last year, the board adopted a pay schedule, based on years of service, to ensure that teachers would want to work in Union County. The idea was to pay teachers a good wage and provide them with a guide as to what they would be making as their careers progressed. In the schedule for last year new teachers could expect to start out at a $46,000 a year base salary plus supplements for education past the bachelor’s degree level. For years 13 to retirement, the base salary increased by $500 per year, with a teacher who had 30 years of service to the district making a base salary of $55,000.
At the Oct. 10 meeting, this schedule was updated to meet state requirements for new teacher pay. Teachers just starting out will be paid $47,500 for their first five years, with regularly scheduled increases throughout their careers. At their 30-year mark, they will be making a base salary of $57,500.
According to Ripplinger, last year’s salary schedule made a big difference in filling the vacancies for the current year, unlike some previous years.
“We had no problems at all filling needed positions for the current year,” Ripplinger said. “We hope that this new schedule will make hiring even smoother. I think it will also help keep teachers in our schools, rather than staying for a few years and then moving on to a higher paying district. I believe this schedule is competitive with Baker, Bradford, Alachua and Columbia County schools and will help us keep good, experienced people where we need them.”
The educational supplements are the same for teachers at all levels of service and have not changed with the new salary schedule.
A teacher with a Bachelor of Arts degree plus 18 hours of graduate study makes an additional $1,000 per year, while one that has completed a master’s degree makes an additional $2,500. A teacher with Specialist certification makes an additional $3,500 per year and one that has earned a Doctorate degree gets a $4,500 supplement. Each teacher with education beyond the bachelor’s level only gets one supplement, based on their highest level of education.
