In August, 2021, Sedro-Woolley School District and the teacher’s union (SWEA) approved a new salary schedule for certificated teachers. First year teachers, with no experience, will earn $57,877 as a base salary for a 9 month contract. This includes a 3% increase to the previous year’s contract. The top base salary is now $113,293 for teachers with 16 or more years’ experience and an advanced degree.[1] To aid those who aren’t enjoying time off during the beautiful Pacific Northwest summers, we converted the salaries to a typical 12 month contract. A brand new teacher, with no experience, makes the equivalent of $77,169 a year, and the highest earning teacher earns the equivalent of $151,057. These inflated base salaries don’t even include benefits or pensions.
State taxpayer contributions to the district total $56.6m, while salaries and benefits cost SWSD $66.5m.[2] Salaries and benefits alone cost the district an astonishing $10 million MORE than the entire state contribution for education.
US Census figures show the median household income for Skagit County was $67,028 in 2019.[3] SWSD salaries suggest that our teachers are grossly overpaid, especially considering that more than 55% of SWSD students did not meet the math and science standards, and 43.7% of SWSD students did not meet the English and language arts standards in 2018-2019.[4]
SWSD teachers are failing to teach the basics, yet are smiling all the way to the bank with lavish salaries, benefits and raises. Meanwhile, the state has experienced devastating unemployment from March 2020 that has persisted through last fall. There are an estimated 78,400 fewer jobs than before the start of the pandemic.[5] [6]
In February, the Education Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy will be on the ballot for SWSD voters to consider maintaining the $51m of taxpayer funds over four more years. The current EP&O Levy will expire in 2022. According to the district website, the levy helps the district pay for “extras”[7] because the state taxpayer contribution of $56.6m to the district doesn’t even come close to funding teacher salaries and benefits, much less any additional costs for basic education[8].
“Maintaining the EP&O Levy is required for the district to continue delivering the educational services our community has grown to expect.”[9] However, SWSD’s educational services are currently failing as evidenced by unsettling test scores that show students are not mastering basic concepts.[10] [11] Money itself never fixes problems, and until the problems are recognized, nothing will change. Continuing to support the status quo and voting to maintain the EP&O Levy will only bring more failure. What our students need are the basics, and continued funding of the current flawed system will not deliver a successful basic education to our students. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” – Rita Mae Brown 1983
Jess, thank you for reading. Source data is available for all information cited in the article. I would suggest reviewing those. If you have additional citations that are relevant, please forward those for our review.