Report: Falls teachers among highest compensated in the state

School board member Stuart Nordquist shared with fellow board members a notebook full of statewide data from a recent Minnesota School Board Association meeting he attended with board member Dena Wenberg and Superintendent Jeff Peura.

The information shows the average teacher compensation package in the Falls district for the two-year contract extending 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years is $91,285; the average teacher salary in the Falls is $63,335.

Nordquist noted that the district’s salary and benefits package was the second highest in the state when an additional $3,000 QComp payment was added to the base salary and benefits.

The average teacher compensation package total includes salary, medical benefits, retirement account contributions, and other costs such as dental and life insurance, Nordquist said.

The Hibbing school district tops the charts, with average total compensation of $95,014 per teacher for the most recent contract. Climax-Shelly school district is at the bottom end of the compensation chart, with an average $43,596 in yearly salary and benefits per teacher.

School district contracts are negotiated on a two-school-year basis. The Falls district contract with teachers union Local 331 will be up for renegotiation following this school year. At the end of a January regular school board meeting, members held a closed session to discuss negotiation strategy for the Local 331 contract.

This MSBA information is presented each year to districts statewide.

“It’s for our financial health,” Nordquist told The Journal. “The Minnesota School Board Association is telling all of us, not just our district, that we can’t really sustain, with the way the state’s deficit is, can’t continue to do this. We’re going to find ourselves broke.”

Nordquist said the Falls district is in “good financial health, but that can change very fast with what the Legislature does.” He said cuts on payments made from the state to districts based on enrollment could impact the district’s bottom line.

Voters in the ISD 361 school district have been “most generous” in granting several levies that help the district maintain financial viability, he said. He also pointed to assets of the district, such as the arena and pool, as helpful to the district budget.

But payments to the district by the state for each student are a large portion of the district’s funding. Each district in the state receives $5,124 per student.

Minnesota is now facing a revised $5 billion deficit and lawmakers are looking for ways to save money in many facets of the state budget — including considering cuts to education funding. For example, Nordquist pointed to Senate File 56, which would freeze school employee salaries through 2013. This passed the Senate on Feb. 10.

“Everybody, I think, concedes that you have to have cuts,” Nordquist said of the state budget. “But everyone says, ‘Cut the other guy.’ And that doesn’t work. I think some place along the line people are going to have to realize it’s going to be a thing of shared pain.”

Nordquist explained the item with the most percentage change in the education budget is insurance premiums the district pays for each teacher. While salaries are determined locally, insurance payments have skyrocketed in recent years, Nordquist noted.

According to MSBA data, the state-average yearly district costs of a family health plan have risen from $5,912 in the 2002-03 school year to $9,157 in 2010-11. Much of that additional payment has fallen on the districts, Nordquist explained.

For each teacher who selects a family medical plan, the Falls district pays $1,199 per month. The employee contributes about $80 per month. Annually, ISD 361 pays $14,390 per teacher on a family health plan. District costs for an individual health plan are near the state average: the district pays $5,713 per teacher per year, while the state averages $5,753 per teacher per year.

Another variable in the compensation equation is the number of days teachers are required to work each year. In the top 20 schools with the highest compensation packages, International Falls and Hibbing are tied with 181 teacher work days. Other districts in the top 20 require teachers work up to 194 days. The average of the 20 districts with highest compensation is more than 186 work days, or a full five-day work week longer than the Falls.

Nordquist, pointing to data included in a box on Page 1A, referred to recent standardized test results compared to teacher salary. He had presented a version of this chart at the Feb. 22 school board meeting. It was based on an Aug. 15, 2010, supplement to the Mesabi Daily News, which compared results from 12 districts in northern Minnesota on their statewide Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment tests, known as MCA-II.

Nordquist added the compensation data for each district to the chart for comparison. Nordquist said these dozen schools are “schools we have relationships with” — explaining they are schools the Falls competes with in athletics and with whom the Falls is in special education consortiums, to name a few associations.

“If we had the best (teachers), then we should be able to produce results,” Nordquist told The Journal. “And then it’s up to you to interpret the graph — where do we sit with the other schools that are doing this with a lot less money?”

For the last two years, Falls High School has failed to meet adequate yearly progress towards all students being proficient in core subjects. After a one-year lapse in AYP, Falls Elementary regained its meeting-AYP status last year.

“The question comes down, does money make a difference on how you do on your test scores? The top two districts (in compensation) — Hibbing and International Falls — are either one above the state of Minnesota averages? Only in writing ... So you can draw your conclusion.”

Local 331 union response

John Sandberg, Local 331 union president and District 361 teacher, released the following statement regarding specific questions posed by The Journal:

“Our staff is well educated and hard working and the board has selected a great group of employees. In the last few years, the board and staff have worked hard to increase test scores through new programs, added trainings, staff development, and continued commitment to the education of our children.”

“We would hope that government officials continue to support education and seriously consider the mandates and the way education is funded. We are in tough financial times and we need all parties involved in the educational process of children to work together for the betterment of all. The union is not in a position of placing blame, but we are all going to have to work together to get the state and country moving in the right direction.”

Teacher pay and student performance

District Reading Science Math Writing Average teacher

% proficient % proficient % proficient % passing salary and benefits

Chisholm 63.97 (11) 37.90 (8) 50.27 (11) 88.37 (11) $68,303 (12)

Ely 79.56 (2) 49.43 (4) 64.46 (3) 80.00 (12) $75,951 (7)

Eveleth/Gilbert 73.12 (3) 57.66 (2) 59.63 (5) 95.65 (5) $70,401 (10)

Grand Rapids 71.92 (6) 43.80 (6) 59.25 (6) 91.48 (10) $81,638* (4)

Greenway 71.13 (8) 35.53 (10) 67.31 (1) 92.30 (9) $73,089 (9)

Hibbing 72.27 (5) 41.53 (7) 61.01 (4) 96.40 (3) $95,014 (1)

International Falls 71.16 (7) 35.12 (11) 55.39 (8) 94.62 (6) $91,285 (2)

Mesabi East 67.31 (10) 43.81 (5) 48.53 (12) 93.44 (7) $78,364 (6)

Mt. Iron/Buhl 70.03 (9) 33.96 (12) 55.11 (9) 97.22 (1) $68,559 (11)

Nashwauk/Keewatin 62.19 (12) 55.08 (3) 53.00 (10) 96.00 (4) $81,530 (5)

St. Louis County 73.02 (4) 36.99 (9) 56.36 (7) 92.85 (8) $75,592 (8)

Virginia 80.80 (1) 62.39 (1) 66.58 (2) 96.58 (2) $81,712 (3)

State of Minnesota 72.34 48.58 65.89 90.58

Rank among dozen northern Minnesota peers in each category is denoted with ( ). The 12 schools chosen along with the achievement test scores were taken from a Mesabi Daily News supplement dated Aug. 15, 2010. Percentages represent the combined district percentage proficient at grade levels tested from the 2009-2010 required Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments standardized tests. Comparison data from the Minnesota Department of Education website.

Average teacher salary and benefits in each district from 2009-10/2010-11 contract. International Falls’ salary and benefits figure does not include additional QComp payments made to each teacher. * Grand Rapids had not settled on contract, most recent information available was used.

Average Teacher Salary Settlement Information (2009-10 and 2010-11)

Top 10 Districts Avg. total Duty Days

package

Hibbing $95,014 181

St Paul $93,748 187

Stillwater Area $92,696 192

Mounds View $91,533 186

International Falls $91,285* 181

North St. Paul $91,041 194

Elk River Area $90,179 185

Rosemount-Av-Eagan $89,516 185

Hopkins $89,134 185

Prior Lake-Savage Area $86,939 185

Information from the Minnesota School Board Association.

* International Falls data does not include QComp payments of $3,000 per year per teacher.