Good evening, Chair Causey, Vice Chair Henn, Superintendent Williams, and members of the Board:

Happy New Year! A new year brings opportunities for resolutions and a promise of new beginnings—a chance to start fresh based on experiences from our past. As we begin the budget cycle for 20-21, it is the appropriate time to resolve to advocate for a budget that addresses inequities in staffing, support, and salaries. It is also a time to address the narrative of the Kirwan Commission recommendations at the local and state level.

CASE fully supports Kirwan as it provides additional funds to expand full-day kindergarten, improve college and career readiness, raise teacher salaries, and support schools in high concentrations of poverty, among other programs.

We do have concerns, however, with funding only teacher salaries. Certainly, teacher salaries must improve to attract and retain the best and brightest. And as I have shared with this Board before, we know the teacher contributes the largest single impact on student growth at 33%.

However, as you know, the principal, and by extension, assistant principal, contribute the 2nd largest single impact to student growth at 25%—only 8% less than the teacher. If we want to attract and retain the best and brightest administrators, their salaries must at least keep pace with those of teachers.

As you are aware, that didn’t happen this year. CASE members were not given the Cost of Living increase that teachers received. Not only is that a blow to the morale of this essential group of leaders, but we have members who received no pay increase and have less buying power now, than they had the year before.

It is a shortsighted game of “Whack a mole” to address the salaries of only one group of people who have significant impact on student growth. CASE asks that this Board resolve to work with our local and state policy makers to rethink the need for improved salaries from only teachers, to educators—as every employee contributes to student success.

That said, this Board must ensure a level of equity relative to Cost of Living increases. If equity is in fact, what you espouse, your voices must be heard. Your dissatisfaction with the funding decisions must be registered. You have a difficult job, and we appreciate your leadership. However, you were elected or appointed to do this job, and sometimes that means making a strong stand on necessary issues. We feel your voices should be heard for all bargaining units.

Our County Executive told the teachers at the New Teacher Orientation in August that they should advocate for what they need. CASE expects this Board to do no less.

Thank you.

Tom DeHart,
Executive Director, CASE