December 1999

Volume 1. No. 2.

By Earl Burt

In her address to branch presidents in September, the Minister of Education, Janet Ecker, asserted that the government hopes to build an excellent education system

and that one of the cornerstones of such a system is excellent teachers. Given that many thousands of senior teachers will be retiring in the next ten years, it seems

obvious that the government should be thinking of a strategy to attract excellent young teachers to replace them.

A central part of that strategy should be a plan to provide funding for reasonable increases in teacher salaries. In the absence of such a plan, the much talked about brain drain to the United states is bound to include many excellent younger teachers looking for higher salaries.

Sceptical about higher salaries in the U.S.? An extensive 1998 analysis of teacher salaries in the U.S., conducted by the American Federation of Teachers, will likely make

graduates from Ontario faculties of education think seriously about moving south.

Consider the following [ salaries in Canadian dollars]: the beginning teacher’s average salary in the U.S. is $37,573 (that’s $5,892 more than the TDSB pays a beginning teacher); the average beginning salary for the three states that value teachers the most is $44,129 ($12,448 more than the TDSB); the average U.S. teacher salary is $57,446;

for the six states that border the Great Lakes region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York) that average (not maximum.) increases to $65,107;

the three states with the highest average salaries are Connecticut ($75,521), New Jersey ($73,414), and New York ($71,119); an average of the salaries for teachers at the top of

the grid for the top ten highest paying cities in the U.S. is $93,888. $146,000 for Long Island teachers in Yonkers, N.Y. a teacher at the top of the grid makes $115,931, while in Long Island, N.Y. the highest teacher salary surpasses $146,000; finally, in Washington, where the average salary is $56,582, most school boards pay teachers who take

on coaching and other extra-curricular activities (These "extra-duty contracts" pay an average of $5,250).

Demographic changes in the U.S. in the next ten years will undoubtedly benefit Ontario teachers who are willing to move. There is expected to be a demand for 2.5 million

teachers as retirements surge and enrollments increase. Shortages are already so bad in some states, especially in subject areas such as math and science, that U.S. boards are

engaging in aggressive recruiting campaigns. Recruiters looking "as far afield as Austria and Spain" use enticements such as signing bonuses and $7,000 grants towards the

purchase of a home. In Massachusetts (where the average teacher salary is $64,656) legislation has been drafted to provide for $30,000 signing bonuses to entice new teachers to the state. For younger teachers thinking of moving to the warmer climate of California (where teachers are currently paid an average of $65,094), there is expected to be a need for 250,000 teachers in the next ten years.

Given the kind of salaries and demand for teachers outlined above, many young Ontario teacher graduates are likely to have second thoughts about staying in a province that undervalues their skills, knowledge, and creativity. In Ontario, teachers are facing increased teacher workloads, belittling paper tests, reduced professional support services, and impoverished resources, which all serve to exacerbate the growing wage disparities between here and the U.S. If the financial rewards are not high enough in Ontario, thebest and the brightest will choose to go south and boards will be left to hire much less qualified candidates a lot lower down the list.

Clearly, unless the government starts directing funds towards making Ontario teacher salaries more competitive, Ecker’s assertions about creating an excellent system will

ring hollow. Attracting and keeping good teachers is clearly a critical element of school reform, an element that this government does not understand. The minister should look south for some insight and take a cue from the Prince George County Council in Washington. Councilors in Prince George came to the simple market-based conclusion that they needed "to give the school system more money to fund significant teacher raises" in order to bring starting salaries up to levels comparable to surrounding counties (which paid $2,900 more than the $41,977 being paid in Prince George).

Finally, the minister needs to recognize that like other professionals, young teachers are highly motivated, conscientious and dedicated.

Like other professionals they also hope to pay off student loans, provide for families and receive a competitive salary that keeps pace with inflation, allowing them to live in expensive North American cities like Toronto. Otherwise, excellent young teachers are likely to move south where they will receive better remuneration. In the end, it will be Ontario students who lose the most. Mike Harris seems to get the rest of his education plans from the USA. He should, at least, support the salaries to match.

The AFT analysis is available at www.aft.org/research. The 68 page survey is complete with extensive tables and charts. Not surprisingly, the survey shows that states where

teachers are restricted by legislation from free collective bargaining show up at the bottom of a fifty state ranking. Other sources used are: "LI’$ Fact$" Long Island Business News, Mar. 4/99; Richard Clayton, "Do Washington’s teachers deserve a large pay raise?",The Columbian, Apr. 23/99; Patricia Kean, "Pay teachers doctor wages; they’ll treat kids", Newsday, Nov. 1/99; Brian Knowton, "Teacher crisis looms in US", International Herald Tribune, Feb. 15/99; and "Try m-o-n-e-y", The Economist, July 18/98.