Educators talk salary, other incentives in meeting on recruitment, retention

State Rep. Brad Pollitt, at right, takes notes as a teacher provides thoughts on what can be done to help keep teachers in the classroom. Pollitt was joined Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, for the open meeting by Missouri Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven, Mallory McGowin and Paul Katnik, all members of the Blue Ribbon Education Commission. (Julie Smith/News Tribune photo)
State Rep. Brad Pollitt, at right, takes notes as a teacher provides thoughts on what can be done to help keep teachers in the classroom. Pollitt was joined Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, for the open meeting by Missouri Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven, Mallory McGowin and Paul Katnik, all members of the Blue Ribbon Education Commission. (Julie Smith/News Tribune photo)

Money was the major theme of the Blue Ribbon Commission's public hearing Wednesday, when educators were invited to share their ideas for policy and practice changes that could improve the experience of Missouri teachers.

The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Blue Ribbon Commission, consisting of legislators, educators and business leaders from around the state, was formed with the goal of making recommendations on how to keep and attract teachers in the state.

Many educators who came to speak referred to the present circumstances as a "crisis" for the profession, saying teachers are operating in a high-stress environment with minimal support and little pay.

"I think we're losing to other professions. We are not able to be as competitive," said 27-year educator Terry Robinson, adding, "Housing, children, marriage, all these things -- it doesn't seem to be a professional salary at all."

Current statute places the minimum teacher salary at $25,000, but this year the state government created an optional grant program that would supply 70 percent of the costs to raise teachers' base pay to $38,000. As of July 20, 301 district applications for the program had been approved.

Others talked about how inflation has risen, but teacher salaries haven't kept pace. Yet educators balked at some pay proposals.

Merit pay, or pay based on achievement or success, has been floated as a potential solution in commission meetings and in an online teacher survey, but some at the meeting were opposed.

"The idea of merit pay would introduce an unfair playing field that encourages competition instead of collaboration," said Kathy Steinhoff, a retired educator from Columbia.

Community college instructor and former high school teacher Clarissa Brown agreed.

"There are challenges determining what is a high-performance teacher, and how do you determine that? I don't know. Good luck," Brown told the commission. "So I don't know that you can pay teachers more for their performance because the metrics are not available to accurately determine what is a high-performance teacher."

Nearly every proposal to keep and gain new teachers requires more money, Steinhoff said.

"I believe you as a commission were assigned an impossible task, since the biggest reason this commission even exists is because Missouri has never really funded education properly and fully," Steinhoff said.

Other ideas educators proposed included student loan forgiveness programs, increases to pensions and available grant funding, increased plan time (time that educators spend preparing for classes without students present), increased emphasis on mental health and behavioral support using federal funding such as ESSER or ARPA dollars, allowing teachers to discipline students and hold them accountable, recruiting stakeholders to be substitute teachers, and making the alternative certification process simpler.

Though their ideas differed, all speakers agreed education is vital.

"We're inextricably tied to the success or failure of communities, of towns, of states, of our country," Robinson said.

"Where would the world be without education spreading democracy in the world, and teaching and raising kids up the right way?" he asked.

The commission will hear more from teachers. Earlier this week, it opened an online survey for teachers, principals and superintendents to give feedback about various ideas to enhance the teaching profession. The survey is open until 4 p.m. Friday and can be found at https://dese.mo.gov/state-board-education/blue-ribbon-commission.

The commission's next meeting, which will be virtual, is set for 2 p.m. Aug. 23.

  photo  Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: Kathy Steinhoff addresses members of the State Blue Ribbon Education Commission Wednesday during a public meeting in the Governor Office Building. Steinhoff taught in Columbia Public Schools for 34 years and offered a few ideas about how to retain teachers and asked that the legislature fully fund public schools.