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Read comments (23)The Educator Quality Basic money is allocated by the Iowa Legislature in an effort to increase the average teacher salaries in Iowa and raise Iowa's ranking in average teacher salary in the United States.
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The money is not a part of the salary agreement between the district and the education association, Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt said.
"This is not a cost out of our school budget," Wendt said. "This is state money."
Distribution of funds is contingent upon actual receipt of the allocated funding dollars.
A total of $866,797 is allocated for the Educator Quality Basic Salary Distribution, with $760,348 available for salary distribution after withholding taxes are deducted.
This additional funding from the state will be paid in 10 equal installments payable on regular pay days September through June.
Part-time teachers will receive additional salary in proportion to their full-time equivalency, and all available funds will be distributed equally among all teachers in proportion to their full-time equivalency.
The Professional Development funds are designed to provide funding for schools to pay teachers to be involved in school improvement training outside normal contract hours.
A total of $85,681 is allocated in District Educator Quality Professional Development funds, with $75,159 to be distributed after withholding taxes are deducted.
That money will be used to fund an additional day of professional development outside the normal contract and the annual two-day summer academy set for June 2009.
Wendt reminded board members that the Educator Quality money is from the state and is not included the salary negotiations, and has no effect on the 2008-09 salary schedule.
lemarsgrad,
Have you investigated for yourself why the renters moved to the new Education Service Center?
My understanding is that the District was approached by at least one of the renters about the possibility of relocating at the site.
I can understand all of them wanting to be included in the education mix provided there though.
In reference to Dan Smith's comment of Sept. 13. The new administrators building may be revenue neutral to the school district but there are 3 other building owners that now have vacancies and loss of revenue. So the area as a whole has a loss in revenue and this will have an affect on both property taxes and income taxes of these building owners.
LM Resident
Yes teachers are only in the class room for 9 months out of the year. But many teachers use the summer months to prepare lessons for the next year, purhcase materials, out of there own pocket, needed in their class rooms. They may also be attending continuing education classes that are required by the state to keep their teaching certificate. And no I am not a teacher but was rasied by one and know the extra hours she put in for the benefit of students.
1MKicks
You must have missed the note by Dan Smith that the teacher's bonus paid by the state was on the School Board agenda for the September 8th meeting...the day before the vote. The school board doesn't have control over the paper and when articles are published.
To 1mkicks:
This was news...in 2006.
2006...it was in the papers
2006...it was on TV
2006...it was on the radio
The fact that the Sentinel even made this clerical issue into an article is questionable.
I suppose you now want headlines every time the teachers get a paycheck so you can complain about the schools more. Your insults are petty one-liners with no substance. If you want to be part of a civil conversation, fine...but your comments on this story are baseless.
This information was hidden on purpose before the ISL vote. I want to cast a vote on the whole school board and administration.
I vote NO CONFIDENCE!
fleshwound,
The bonus from the State has nothing to do with negotiations with the teacher's union.
The bonus flows from the State through the District to the teachers.
It is only allocated one year at a time.
There may be no such thing next year.
@forsest:
You said something about "who teaches the kids to be doctors etc." I hope you are not implying that after a secondary education one can go out and pass the MCATs. This is a primary/secondary education issue, not a college issue. The colleges are where kids learn specified trades. Your argument to give teachers more money based on "if you don't, the kids won't ever learn to be doctors" is just not right. I understand your underlying meaning, don't get me wrong. If a teacher is truly a good teacher then their job performance should stay the same whether they make 28k a year or 100k a year. Simple as that. I doubt they are really holding our children's education hostage until their financial demands are met. If they are, they need to be fired. While I understand how hard it is to live on a salary of 28k a year, there are many families who make that or less. Bottom line is, we are all struggling. When it comes down to "buy groceries for the next week or pay my kid's teacher more" most people will vote on buying the groceries.
On that note, I am happy that the state approved a bonus for the teachers. Extra money comes in handy no matter what your job is.
On the whole timing of the situation, I don't think there are any real conspiracies here. Although I do wonder that if the tax had passed and the teachers still got the state bonus, would the school's administration still have upped the teacher's salaries? Or would the money have gone more towards the maintenance side of things? I hope you know what I mean. I just ask because I really don't know.
RE:Education Service Center
This building belongs to Le Mars Community and we have administration, technology, clerical, and our alternative high school there.
When the Wells folks approached us about the desire to sell the building we looked to the future of education in the area.
The future, we thought, would be making educational opportunities more convenient for not only those who were going to provide college credit classes but also the students in the area.
The first thought was not exclusively moving administrators etc. out of an academic building.
The building is revenue neutral to our general fund because of the educational partners renting space from us.
I am only there two nights a week (Board Meetings) but when there it is amazing to me how much activity is taking place in the building.
There are continually noises in the background coming from classrooms, students walking around the back of the Board Room, and folks walking in and out of the building occasionally.
I encourage you to come take a look at what is going on if you haven't already.
And please consider attending a Board meeting or two.
Gotta go, volleyball tournament!
Thank you Dan for the clarification. You do an excellent job. I stand corrected, (gladly I might add.)
I think its ironic how paying a football or baseball player millions is OK yet our teachers may start around 28K with an avg wage of 40K a year, what is more important in the big ball of wax. These teachers must put up with kids all day (some kids are not so good) or these kids may have a multitude of problems they bring with them to school and a sports player is just providing entertainment go figure. I think sometimes administration at school can be a bit overpaid and overstaffed (sound like a local school you know of) I am still confused on why the administrative staff needed an off site building (its not like there is overcrowding going on at LC schools)
Also,
We acted on this the day before the ISL/School Board election.
The item showed up in "Action Items" in the Board Sept. 8, 2008 Agenda which I get in the mail the Thursday before the meeting.
I don't know when the media gets their copy but have noticed stories in the past about items that are going to be coming up at the next Board meeting.
The fact that it was "reported the day after" the election is a choice made by the media on how newsworthy they feel items on the agenda are.
I believe there are also copies of the agenda for the upcoming meeting available to the public at the Education Service Center.
whatthe and others,
This is an annual bonus from the State to every school teacher in the state.
A raise is typically based upon what an employee is making currently with experience mixed in.
It is a year to year thing at least in it's second year.
It could dry up at the whim of the State Legislature any year.
The teachers know that if it dries up the School District is not going to continue it.
Smart teachers aren't basing any long term financial commitments on future receipt of this bonus.
Again, Dr. Wendt didn't get a raise, in fact he said he didn't want one.
First of all. Teachers being under paid is a total myth.
John Stossel does a segment on 20/20 called Fleecing of America. One episode involved the myth that teachers are underpaid. This "phrase" was coined many years ago at a time when teachers WERE underpaid. Checked out the teachers salaries lately? Not bad for 9 months work.
Also Todd Wendt, what's up with your salary?
I believe the public service people that put their lives on the line for you everyday, work for considerably less.
Also I think "My Neighbor the Teacher" could hardly have an unbiased opinion.
In closing, publishing a nice pay increase for teachers the day after the ISL vote failed leads me to believe the School Board is trying to paint a phony picture of the school budget.
I'm sure the ISL will come up again and I'd bet next time it will get defeated by a lot more than 51%.
School Board, the people have spoken, listen to them!
former - Who teaches the students to be doctors, etc.? Without qualified and well paid teachers, then you get a substandard education. Then forget being a doctor, engineer, etc.
And it you not sure about teacher, volunteer to take their classes for a week and see how tough it can be.
Whatthe - This money was set by the state two years ago, so it isn't new at all. It was just a new agreement by the parties how to distribute it. Nothing was held back.
Iowa ranking in pay last I heard was 38th and falling. Worse yet is Iowa's spending on the arts. 53rd in the nation. Even the territories spend more.
i know im starting trouble when i say this, but i have to...
first of all, dont get me wrong, i am very grateful for the education i recieved from my teachers. teaching is a very noble profession. helping and education the next generation of people is important.
however, an education major in college is a relatively easy major. it generally only requires a 4yr degree to be a k-12 teacher. the tougher majors in college will generally get paid more once completing their degrees (i.e. engineers), that only makes sense right? and those who continue their education to masters, doctorates, and post doctorate degrees will get paid more than a person only earning a bachelors degree (i.e. Dr. Wendt). thats just how it works.
so the argument that teachers need to be paid extremely well because the profession is so noble really doesnt work for me.
I want to make it clear that I did not mention this being the school board (I believe they have a tough job and deserve our gratitude and thanks for a thankless job). The article said the school district. I don't know who is responsible specifically for timing of school district press releases. excellent feedback and comments. My comments are primarily about timing.
To begin let me say, I am fortunate to have a neighbor who teaches and provides me with inforamtion in a straight forward manner---they call a spade a spade. In addition I appreciate all the work the teachers at LCS and Gehlen do for our children..so to continue
To respond to Whathe
I understand you being upset about the ISL vote--which way you voted/didn't vote based on teachers pay increase by the state. But the ISL vote was not based on 'giving the teachers more money' Sure the teachers might get a 2% raise for next year. The ISL vote was about obtaining funding to keep programs available at LCS. Furthermore, this was not a 'blatant deception' by the school board or any person involved with the school. This measure was voted on in the 2006 Legislative Session....If you follow politics & talk to your local represenatives you would have been aware of this. I am assuming you voted last political election. Thus, you follow politics since you were concerned about the ISL vote. In doing so, you would keep informed by talking to your local representative and/or read their weekly write-ups in the Sentinel, or attend their weekly town hall meetings at the library. Having done that they could have told you/should have told/would have told you this measure was passed in 2006 long before ISL was an issue at LCS. Just for knowledge this is the second year of the increased pay for teachers in Iowa. While I didn't talk to Sodebrug myself. I talked to my neighbor and they told me. I don't disagree with you at all on these issues, I am just giving you the information. Agree, disagree or have an indifferent opinion......all this still makes for great water cooler conversation
My comments are not in reagrd to the teachers deserving or not deserving what they get paid. My question really comes down to "when did the district know that this money was coming for the teachers and why was it not disclosed before the ISL vote?" I have very grave concerns the information was withheld on purpose because the ISL vote would have been dramatically effected to the NO side. I see this a manipulation by the district and blatant deception on their part to further their agenda. How can we "just trust their judgement" if this is true. mr. Smith has my respect for publically addressing these type of questions in this forum. I hope he does again now.
Bottom line is teachers are getting a well deserved raise! In my mind, you can't pay them enough for what they do. They have the most important job in the world, why not give them more money?
First of all, this money has nothing to do with the School Board, none what so ever. This is being given by the State of Iowa....presented, debated, and approved by the Iowa House of Representatives, Senate, and Govenor. Our school has no say in this money what so ever, all they control is distributing the checks. The state sends Le Mars Community Schools a check for the money needed to give each full-time teacher their share (which is stated in the article above.) The school in turn writes each teacher a check. The money being given to the teachers is part of Gov. Culver's plan to bring teachers pay in step with the rest of the nation. Iowa educatuion ranks near top based on academic achievement on standardized tests--I didn't say at the top---rather near the top....and no I don't know the exact ranking Iowa has. Anyway to continue, So Gov. Culver feels if Iowa is 8th out of 50 in academic achievement, then the teachers should be compensated closer to that. And again, I don't know where Iowa ranks in teacher pay or where they did rank nor do I know the exact spot in academic achievment. I do know Culver was once a teacher and one of his 'political pitches' as a candidate for govenor was to raise teacher pay. Which he has done. Do I find it ironic the day after the defeat of the ISL vote this article is published? Absolutely. But the passing or non-passing of the ISL had no impact on this money. It was going to be given to the teachers--regardless. And no the school cannot keep the checks apporved by the State for teachers, for those of you thinking hey 'why doesn't the school not give the teachers their checks.' They cannot! Whether you agree, disagree, have indifferent opinion....this all makes for good water cooler conversation.
If I am not mistaken, this is the TOBACCO SETTLEMENT money that the tobacco companies are giving to the states. This $ was supposed to be used for smoking prevention and medical care of those who are now ill from smoking.
But, as usual, the democratic govenor, Vilsack, not Culver, needed to get elected so he bought off the Iowa NEA (teachers union) and they now get the benefit for their political support.
Don't you find it interesting that the state mandates the $ go directly to the teachers and not the budget?
Once again, the community is not smart enough how th handle it's own funds, typical democrat move, "we know what's good for you, trust us"
I have given up. The school board is out of control.
I've been watching this story all day and am amazed that no one has posted a comment. Am I the only one that finds this strange that this story is reported the day after the big blow ups over the ISL? Were people afraid that if this story came out sooner that it would negatively affect the ISL vote. Did we as voters have a right to know this before the vote. Yes, I understand this did not come from the general budget, but the bottom line is that EACH full-time teacher at LCHS will be getting a substantial raise. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a 8.3% raise for a teacher making $60,000 per year or a 16.6% increase for a teacher making $30,000. It makes it hard for me to justify a YES vote on the ISL. I would love to have had that kind of raise in this current economy. I'm open to hearing from folks to point out what I'm missing.