Public PayCHECK: Springfield Public Schools salaries
For every teaching job in Springfield Public Schools, lots of people apply, on average 144.
District officials believe a competitive salary and benefits package — one of the best in the region — is the biggest reason.
Springfield's teacher pay starts at $34,088 and tops out, after 30 years with a doctorate, at $64,240. As part of the benefits package, teachers get 13 sick days, among the highest in the region, and the district pays 100 percent of the health care premiums for its 3,900 employees.
A fairly high number of Missouri districts pay 100 percent of employee health premiums but others pay just a portion, such as 60 percent, or require employees to pick up the cost. The number of sick days and other fringe benefits vary widely.
In a statewide look at salary schedule, Springfield doesn't fare as well. Springfield is the largest of the 520 districts but its starting pay and top pay for teachers barely made the top 100.
Parker McKenna, chief human resources officer, said the district wants to be "as competitive as possible." For the 2014-15 year, the board has set aside a record $7.95 million to improve staff salaries and benefits and the details are currently being worked out through collective bargaining.
"Our goal is to get the most qualified candidate for every position," McKenna said. "... Salary is yet another tool."
Kittilu Maxson, president of the Springfield National Education Association, said location and starting pay are the top priorities for new teachers but the 30-step salary schedule — it builds in raises for gaining experience and education — is a critical piece of retaining quality employees.
"The salary schedule is a big perk," she said. "To kind of know this is where I could be in five years."
In recent years, Springfield and St. Louis City have had the alternating distinction as the biggest school district in the state, based on enrollment numbers. On top currently is Springfield.
But with a lower cost of living than Kansas City or St. Louis and a steady stream of new teachers graduating from nearby Missouri State University, Drury University and Evangel University, Springfield does not put itself up against the biggest school districts in setting pay rates. It uses neighborhood districts as a benchmark to help determine its starting teacher pay.
"Often, if we aren't No. 1 with the districts that border us, we're within a small margin," McKenna said.
Maxson believes Springfield's pay should lead the region. New teachers often pick where they want to live and then apply within a radius of their top choice.
"They're looking for a community they know they want to move to — either move to, or stay in, or go back home," she said. "Once they've decided where they want to live, usually, the first thing is 'what does a beginning teacher make.' "
Parkview High School history teacher Ron Tate was already established in the Springfield area by the time he transitioned into teaching in the early 1990s. Getting a job here was the top priority but pay was a factor.
"I was thankful I got a job in Springfield because they paid a little better than some of the outlying areas," he said. "But it was more that I just had a job."
Tate worked in his father's business and then managed a Wendy's before deciding, after a positive stint as a PTA volunteer at Bingham Elementary, to go back to college and get a teaching degree.
"Like a lot of guys coming out of college, you apply in a radius," he said.
Tate was a student teacher at Parkview and worked as a substitute before getting a full-time job at Parkview, where he has stayed. He will retire this month.
Webb City tops in region
Annual salary reports from the Missouri National Education Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association show starting teacher pay in the region ranges from a low of $25,000 in a smattering of significantly smaller districts, (most with just a few hundred students), to a high of $37,000 in Webb City, a 4,130-student Jasper County district.
In the three-county region of Greene, Christian and Taney, there are four districts with starting teacher pay just above that set by Springfield. Here is how much each of those salaries exceed Springfield's $34,088:
• Republic — $77 more for a total of $34,165
• Branson — $312 more for a total of $34,400
• Willard — $592 more for a total of $34,680
• Ozark — $1,012 more for a total of $35,100
Missouri has 520 districts and 475 provided salary schedules for the 2013-14 Missouri National Education Association report. Out of the 475, Springfield's starting pay was ranked No. 87 and its max pay was ranked No. 73.
But of the 20 largest districts, those with 10,000 students or more, Springfield's starting pay was ranked at the very bottom. The top end of its schedule was No. 19 out of 20.
Among the largest districts, Parkway — in the St. Louis area, has the highest starting salary with $41,500. But across the entire state, considering districts of all sizes, the Kirkwood district, also near St. Louis, had the highest starting pay with $42,800 and its salary schedule tops out at nearly $97,000, also the highest in the state.
Despite not topping the statewide salary list, Springfield has continued to see a high number of applications for each job. Last year, it filled 245 teaching jobs.
"Springfield's reputation and it's size are factors that increase our visibility," he said.
Strong partnership with local colleges that produce teachers, innovative programs and ongoing efforts to mentor new teachers also attract applicants.
Tate, the Parkview teacher, believes the district must amp up support for new teachers. He notes new teachers are at the lower end of the established pay schedule and may have other stressors, such as starting a new family.
"We lose a lot of young teachers in the third, fourth and fifth year because they're not prepared for the amount of work," said Tate, 57.
He said more could be done to identify strong student teachers and recruit those into full-time jobs. "That's that new fresh talent coming out of college and we need to be able to tap into that," he said.
In recent years, the district has beefed up its hiring process so applicants go through an online survey, an in-person interview that is highly structured and then a "fit" interview with the prospective supervisor or principal.
"We need to make sure our process is built in such a way that our most qualified candidates stand out," MeKenna said
McKenna added that any one aspect of the process, by itself, won't eliminate an applicant.
Finding top applicants quickly is critical and so, through an agreement with employee groups, the district has started hiring much earlier in the spring.
Current teachers have first crack at open jobs and then the process is opened up.
"We were able to start the internal transfer process much sooner and then go outside much sooner," he said. "We believe it allows us to get top talent."
Fringe Benefits
The 2013-14 Missouri Salary Schedule and Benefits Report, prepared by the Missouri State Teachers Association, lists the following fringe benefits for Springfield:
Teacher work days: 182
Sick leave Yes
Number of sick days 13
Extra duty pay Yes
District-paid health coverage for employees Yes
Personal leave Yes, one day
Life insurance, dental and disability Mix of employee and district paid
What should we check next?
This News-Leader project looks at some of the general trends in public employee salaries, while highlighting some of the workers making the most — and the least — in the public sector. But we've only scratched the surface of the public employee salary information you'll find online at News-Leader.com.
Spot a trend while scrolling through the databases online? See something curious you'd like us to investigate? Send an email to abridges@news-leader.com or call 417-836-1170.
Have specific questions or tips about Springfield Public Schools' salaries? Send an email to criley@news-leader.com or call 417-836-1240.
What about the new superintendent?
John Jungmann doesn't start until July. His base salary of $230,000 would put him atop the list of district employees, as would be expected. As we reported last week, Jungmann sits in fifth place on the Top 100 list of Springfield-area employees whose salaries were reviewed by the News-Leader.