DVUSD Board wrestles with teacher salaries
Starting wages lowest in comparable districts
by Brian DiTullio

DVUSD – Competition is fierce for teachers across the Valley, and the Deer Valley Unified School District Governing Board is feeling the pressure.

With school districts in hiring mode for the coming school year, Associate Superintendent Chuck Hoover informed the board he had eight potential teachers turn down job offers due to low salaries.

A graphic provided to the public shows DVUSD has the lowest starting salary among comparable school districts, listed as Chandler, Peoria, Gilbert, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. Of that list, Chandler proposes the highest with a starting salary of $35,680 for the coming school year. DVUSD’s proposed starting salary for 2007‑08 is $31,852.

Hoover recommended jumping starting salaries for certified workers to $35,000 a year, which then would necessitate adjusting the salaries of those workers hired in the last few years to avoid salary compression.

“We need to address this,” said Hoover. “We’re kind of in a crisis. The beginning salary issue is the critical deterrent to people signing on with us.”

Director of Fiscal Services Jim Migliorino said after the meeting that salary adjustment could go back as far as those teachers hired for the 2003‑04 school year, depending on the level of increase approved by the board.

Teachers hired prior to the potential compression period would not see any salary increase, as over time, the normal salary adjustments overcome the compression factor, according to Migliorino.

“Thirty‑four thousand may be a more realistic number,” Migliorino told The Desert Advocate last week. “We need to be more competitive, and $35,000 is what we’re shooting for. But we have to see how much money there is.”

The revenue source Migliorino referred to is how much money will come from the Arizona State Legislature. The budget bill is still going through the process and the final amount to be distributed to schools won’t be known until the bill is on the governor’s desk for final approval.

Several people spoke during call to the public, asking the board to do more to raise district wages, including district teacher Mark Kafouros.

“How do we demonstrate we value all teachers?” Kafouros asked. He also thanked the board for the work they’ve done so far, while urging them to do more.

Vice chair Bill Maas spoke at length on the issue, telling the audience that the board has worked “very hard” to increase salaries and that their efforts are “not appreciated.”

“I won’t let this district go into the red,” he said, adding the district would allocate as much as it could, but would not slash other funding just to pay teacher salaries like it did several years ago.

Maas also decried the people comparing DVUSD to some neighboring districts that, he feels, are not comparable and that DVUSD could never hope to compete with on a funding level due to factors such as career ladders, an experience index, and makeup of the districts.

“It’s not responsible to criticize us for things like that,” said Maas, pointing out the district is working on a performance‑based program that could be funded by a senate measure.

Board member Ron Bayer backed Maas’ funding disadvantage argument, saying, “We’re going to try and do everything we can to tackle the issue. We’re not going to fix this overnight.”

A new certified employee salary schedule is due for presentation and possible adoption at the June 12 regular meeting.