Teacher pay raise tops wish list
There are few certainties about the 2012-13 school year budget, but if Charleston County School Superintendent Nancy McGinley has her way, teachers will be getting more money.
The school district's chief made it clear Monday that her No. 1 priority is finding a way to give teachers the pay she said they deserve but haven't received the last few years. Teachers are key to achieving the district's academic goals, but they haven't had a cost-of-living adjustment in three years or a step increase for additional experience in two years, she said.
"If we do not put this out as our highest priority, we can have the greatest programs in the world, and we're going to lose our talent," McGinley said. "We're already losing talent because they can't afford to live in the county."
She'd like to give all other district staff, including administrators and hourly workers, a cost-of-living increase, and the total cost for the districtwide pay boost would be $12.2 million.
McGinley made her pitch to the school board during a workshop. District officials presented more than $30 million in new or expanded initiatives they'd like to fund next year; the district's total operating budget this year is $334.3 million.
They talked little about from where the money for these efforts would come, and McGinley said she
understands the district doesn't have "all the money in the world." The board also would have to approve the expenditures.
"It will be our job to come back to you with a realistic plan about what we can do next year without raising taxes and going backward academically," she said.
Other top priorities for next year include expanding the district's literacy academies and extending the school year for its lowest-performing schools.
Starting this summer, McGinley's proposal calls for the longer school year to be mandatory and last four weeks for students who attend one of its Innovation Zone schools. The extended school year would cost an estimated $3.6 million.
"If we are going to hit that (academic) target in 2016, we know some children are going to need extra time and more intensive instruction, and we have to do something different," McGinley said.
The board didn't have a deep discussion on the issue, and Chairman Chris Fraser said that could consume a day's worth of deliberation.
"I'm not saying it's not necessary, but this is complicated," he said.
The district would have to receive approval from the state to start school earlier, and it would have to agree to require students to attend.
Literacy is another area in which McGinley plans to focus. The board made literacy the district's No. 1 priority in policy a few years ago, and McGinley said that still holds true.
She'd like to see the district convert its Third Grade Academies, where small groups of weak readers in certain schools are separated from their peers, to the model used for First Grade Academies, in which poor readers are pulled out of their regular classes for extra help. That, as well as increasing reading help in kindergarten and second grades, would cost an additional $3.5 million.
McGinley threw out cost-saving ideas that would be explored, but none involve closing or combining schools for 2012-13. Some of those were using more virtual classes, cutting transportation, setting minimum class sizes and closing school sites during the summer months.
