Getting to a $60K Minimum Teacher Salary in Baker School District, Oregon
National Landscape
Our schools are facing a workforce crisis. Nationally, there are 36,500 teacher vacancies, with another 163,500 unqualified individuals filling teaching positions (Nguyen, 2022). Teacher preparation program enrollment is down by one-third between 2010 and 2018 (Partelow, 2019). Sadly, 62% of parents do not want their children to become teachers, up from 30% in 2009 and the worst level ever since these data were first collected in 1969; the top reason for turning their backs to teaching is low salaries (PDK, 2022). Below we outline how one school district, Baker School District in rural Oregon, is turning this around through $60,000 minimum teacher salaries.
Baker School District’s $60,000 Minimum Teacher Salary Policy
Baker School District is located in rural Eastern Oregon. The nearest Target is two hours away. There are two rural schools in the district, one serving K-6 grade students in a two-room schoolhouse. As with many rural communities, the school district is the county’s largest employer. The district serves approximately 1,650 K-12 students and employs 133 K-12 teachers, of which approximately 80% have three or more years of experience. Additional students are enrolled in a virtual charter school that operates within the district. Eighty-one percent of the student population is White, and the district is considered 100% free and reduced price meal. Eighty-five percent of 12th graders graduate on time. In 2022, the district appointed a new superintendent, Erin Lair. Superintendent Lair, who graduated from and subsequently taught at Baker School District, had most recently led the school improvement work for 21 school districts at their regional education service district.
When Superintendent Lair assumed her role, the teacher hiring pool was a top challenge. Due to a limited hiring pool, the district resorts in some cases to hiring teachers who do not yet have a Bachelor’s degree, and in the 2022-23 school year had to combine a 4th and 5th grade class because no teacher could be found. A nagging issue for Superintendent Lair was that low teacher salaries were a clear root cause underlying these hiring issues (she herself had struggled to pay her mortgage as a first year teacher earning $25,000), but the budget season always focused on interventions that side-stepped the issue of teacher salaries. Prior attempts to address teacher pay had been met with a response of “We just cannot do it;” it seemed the challenge of low teacher salaries would remain perennially unresolved, but as Superintendent, it seemed she had to at least investigate if that really were the case.
In early 2023, Superintendent Lair learned that Oregon HB 2690 had been introduced. This bill put a stake in the ground for a fair teacher salary beginning at $60,000. This framework led her to call her CFO to request a financial model to determine whether the district could realistically make this leap. Superintendent Lair recalls saying, “Humor me, tell me I'm nuts. But is this possible?” When her CFO that there was a way, she was inspired to act on it. The process of getting others on board took just one week, with a tentative agreement reached the very evening Superintendent Lair proposed the new approach to teacher association leadership, after affirming support from her school board bargaining team representative. There was no traditional bargaining. The Board leadership was in, and 100% of their teachers ratified the change.
The policy change involved eliminating the first 12 steps on the salary scale, leaving just four, the lowest of which starts at $60,000. After attaining a salary increase for the first four years of teaching, teachers reach the salary maximum (between $64,681 for teachers with a Bachelor’s degree to $86,521 for teachers with a Master’s degree and 45 credit hours) and from there receive only cost-of-living adjustments for the duration of their career. Table 1 below shows the old salary schedule and Table 2 shows the new salary schedule.
Exp (Yrs) |
Emergency/Restricted Licensure |
BA |
BA+22 |
BA+45 |
BA+60 MA |
BA+75 MA+22 |
BA+90 MA+45 |
$45,000 |
$60,000 |
$62,280 |
$64,647 |
$67,103 |
$69,653 |
$72,300 |
|
1 |
$45,000 |
$61,560 |
$63,808 |
$66,775 |
$69,360 |
$72,045 |
$77,040 |
2 |
$45,000 |
$63,121 |
$65,335 |
$68,904 |
$71,617 |
$74,438 |
$81,781 |
3+ |
$45,000 |
$64,681 |
$66,863 |
$71,033 |
$73,874 |
$76,830 |
$86,521 |
Table 1. 2023-24 Salary Scale (New Scale)
Exp (Yrs) |
BA |
BA+22 |
BA+45 |
BA+60 MA |
BA+75 MA+22 |
BA+90 MA+45 |
$38,489 |
$40,032 |
$41,631 |
$43,298 |
$45,026 |
$46,830 |
|
1 |
$39,644 |
$41,231 |
$42,881 |
$44,594 |
$46,377 |
$48,235 |
2 |
$40,833 |
$42,468 |
$44,168 |
$45,933 |
$47,771 |
$49,680 |
3 |
$42,058 |
$43,740 |
$45,493 |
$47,310 |
$49,203 |
$51,171 |
4 |
$43,322 |
$45,054 |
$46,856 |
$48,731 |
$50,681 |
$52,706 |
5 |
$44,620 |
$46,406 |
$48,262 |
$50,193 |
$52,200 |
$54,286 |
6 |
$45,958 |
$47,796 |
$49,711 |
$51,698 |
$53,766 |
$55,915 |
7 |
$47,339 |
$49,232 |
$51,203 |
$53,251 |
$55,379 |
$57,594 |
8 |
$48,759 |
$50,708 |
$52,737 |
$54,847 |
$57,041 |
$59,322 |
9 |
$50,222 |
$52,229 |
$54,321 |
$56,490 |
$58,750 |
$61,103 |
10 |
$51,727 |
$53,796 |
$55,949 |
$58,187 |
$60,512 |
$62,936 |
11 |
$53,278 |
$55,410 |
$57,628 |
$59,931 |
$62,329 |
$64,824 |
12 |
$56,243 |
$58,140 |
$59,358 |
$61,730 |
$64,200 |
$66,767 |
13 |
$56,243 |
$58,140 |
$61,685 |
$63,583 |
$66,125 |
$68,770 |
14 |
$56,243 |
$58,140 |
$61,685 |
$63,583 |
$66,125 |
$70,833 |
15 |
$56,243 |
$58,140 |
$61,685 |
$63,583 |
$66,125 |
$72,959 |
16+ |
$56,243 |
$58,140 |
$61,685 |
$63,583 |
$66,125 |
$72,959 |
Table 2. 2022-23 Salary Scale (Old Scale)
Enabling Conditions and Challenges
There were several factors that made it possible for Baker School District to implement this significant teacher raise. First, the district had a healthy budget due to full enrollment, sponsoring a charter school (which came with additional state funding), and many years of thoughtful budgeting. Of particular importance is that the district had a one-time 20% ending fund balance available, which equated to $12 million.
The district CFO calculated that, after the first three years of this extra investment in teachers, the district’s ending fund balance would remain above 10% (7.5%-10% is considered healthy). With the state of public school staffing shortages and the growing momentum for higher teacher salaries statewide and nationwide, the district expects that state (or federal) support is likely after three years to help maintain this healthy ending fund balance level while continuing to implement reasonable cost-of-living adjustments and current budget allocation priorities.
In the meantime, Superintendent Lair is also focused on the challenging task of creating staffing efficiencies, reviewing each role to determine if it best serves the district’s mission and vision. To-date, this review has resulted in the elimination of three administrative positions. Another difficult and yet-unresolved area of challenges and deliberation is balancing teachers’ salaries with the salaries of paraprofessionals and other auxiliary staff who, on the one hand, have less educational and certification requirements, responsibility and accountability pressures than teachers, but who, on the other hand, do play a vital role in supporting students and who are also feeling the effects of inflation.
Impact and Advice for Other Leaders
In the first two weeks alone, Superintendent Lair heard anecdotal reports of teachers deciding to stay in teaching rather than switch professions, attempting to grow their family with a second child they previously did not believe they could afford, and other life-impacting decisions directly stemming from the district’s decision to invest in teachers’ salaries. The hiring pool for the district’s two open positions also improved significantly, with at least six viable candidates per vacancy. Superintendent Lair anticipates additional returns on this investment in the future - in the form of fewer resources likely needed for turnover, behavioral interventions, software, and other “fixes” that may be needed less when the district has a fully-staffed, fairly-compensated, high-quality teaching force.
The impact has also reached beyond teachers (and their students). The wider Baker School District community did not object to the increased investment in teachers; rather, the initiative opened their eyes to how little their teachers were earning. According to Superintendent Lair, “Everyone's mind boggled that beginning teachers earned only $38,000. They had no idea.”
Beyond the local community, in conversations with other superintendents in the region, there was a clear realization that many might be closer than they thought to being able to manage a significant teacher salary increase as well. With state or federal help to make the initial move, the shift appears sustainable if they shorten the salary schedule, examine their priorities, review the alignment with current staffing, and consider if every penny is being spent most purposefully.
While Baker School District benefitted from a 20% ending fund balance, similar changes are possible in districts that do not have this initial cushion. In Oregon, a corporate kicker was earmarked for education, potentially enabling many more districts to afford similar increases to teacher salaries. And 25 states have introduced bills to increase teacher salaries over the past two years. Superintendent Lair believes the approach could be taken to scale if more districts ran the numbers to see what this type of pivot would cost, and then the state or federal government provided a one-time infusion of resources to help them make the shift.
In the end, said Superintendent Lair, "Our priority is our people, so that's where we are investing."
There were several factors that made it possible for Baker School District to implement this significant teacher raise. First, the district had a healthy budget due to full enrollment, sponsoring a charter school (which came with additional state funding), and many years of thoughtful budgeting. Of particular importance is that the district had a one-time 20% ending fund balance available, which equated to $12 million.
The district CFO calculated that, after the first three years of this extra investment in teachers, the district’s ending fund balance would remain above 10% (7.5%-10% is considered healthy). With the state of public school staffing shortages and the growing momentum for higher teacher salaries statewide and nationwide, the district expects that state (or federal) support is likely after three years to help maintain this healthy ending fund balance level while continuing to implement reasonable cost-of-living adjustments and current budget allocation priorities.
In the meantime, Superintendent Lair is also focused on the challenging task of creating staffing efficiencies, reviewing each role to determine if it best serves the district’s mission and vision. To-date, this review has resulted in the elimination of three administrative positions. Another difficult and yet-unresolved area of challenges and deliberation is balancing teachers’ salaries with the salaries of paraprofessionals and other auxiliary staff who, on the one hand, have less educational and certification requirements, responsibility and accountability pressures than teachers, but who, on the other hand, do play a vital role in supporting students and who are also feeling the effects of inflation.
Impact and Advice for Other Leaders
In the first two weeks alone, Superintendent Lair heard anecdotal reports of teachers deciding to stay in teaching rather than switch professions, attempting to grow their family with a second child they previously did not believe they could afford, and other life-impacting decisions directly stemming from the district’s decision to invest in teachers’ salaries. The hiring pool for the district’s two open positions also improved significantly, with at least six viable candidates per vacancy. Superintendent Lair anticipates additional returns on this investment in the future - in the form of fewer resources likely needed for turnover, behavioral interventions, software, and other “fixes” that may be needed less when the district has a fully-staffed, fairly-compensated, high-quality teaching force.
The impact has also reached beyond teachers (and their students). The wider Baker School District community did not object to the increased investment in teachers; rather, the initiative opened their eyes to how little their teachers were earning. According to Superintendent Lair, “Everyone's mind boggled that beginning teachers earned only $38,000. They had no idea.”
Beyond the local community, in conversations with other superintendents in the region, there was a clear realization that many might be closer than they thought to being able to manage a significant teacher salary increase as well. With state or federal help to make the initial move, the shift appears sustainable if they shorten the salary schedule, examine their priorities, review the alignment with current staffing, and consider if every penny is being spent most purposefully.
While Baker School District benefitted from a 20% ending fund balance, similar changes are possible in districts that do not have this initial cushion. In Oregon, a corporate kicker was earmarked for education, potentially enabling many more districts to afford similar increases to teacher salaries. And 25 states have introduced bills to increase teacher salaries over the past two years. Superintendent Lair believes the approach could be taken to scale if more districts ran the numbers to see what this type of pivot would cost, and then the state or federal government provided a one-time infusion of resources to help them make the shift.
In the end, said Superintendent Lair, "Our priority is our people, so that's where we are investing."