Agenda - 11-10-1998 - Attachment #8

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Additional funds would be required for teachers hired in the future who fall under the salary cap provisions. Other Recommended Enhancements 1. Provide a one -time, $1000 signing bonus for areas designated by the Board of Education as hard to fill. (Maximum available each year $20,000) 2. Provide full in- -state tuition (limit of two reimbursable courses per year) for teachers employed by the district to become certified in an area of scarcity. (Maximum available each year: $25,000) 3. Provide half the in -state tuition for teachers who successfully complete courses directly related to their present assignment. (Priorities would be established for qualification. Maximum available each year $50,000; limit of $500 per person per year.) 4. Seek assistance for teachers relocating to the area such as waiving utility and security deposits or securing loans from the NC State Employees Credit Union. Recommendations from the Teacher Supplement Committee The Teacher Supplement Advisory Committee reported an overwhelming preference among the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City School District's certified staff for Option C. Teachers identified with the philosophy behind Option C because they see it providing a competitive supplement for teachers with fewer than 15 years of experience while retaining an attractive supplement schedule for teachers with 15 or more years. Teachers strongly believe that a differentiation in the supplement which recognizes years of experience is important. If Option C were not approved by the Board of Education, Option D, which increases the minimum supplement to 10 percent and retains the rest of the present supplement schedule, would be the second choice of teachers. Options A and B were not considered viable options by veteran teachers, although some new teachers tended to find the 14 percent supplement in Option A and the 10 to 12 percent supplements in Option B to be attractive to their short-term needs. Teachers reportedly felt that the higher supplement percentages in the current supplement schedule should be retained in order to enhance the salaries on which teachers' retirement benefits will be calculated. If the Board selects an option other than Option C or D, even if grandfathering is included in the Board's proposal, the Advisory Committee feels that veteran teachers will perceive it as a threat to their retirement benefits. The Advisory Committee believes, nevertheless, that allowing present teachers to be grandfathered alleviated the fears of veteran teachers voiced last spring that they would lose the supplement percentages they have long anticipated. Under the present local supplement schedule, teachers new to the district can only bring with them ten years of experience for the purpose of determining their local supplement. The Committee recommends that this cap be removed after four years of successful experience In our district. This would apply to teachers already affected by this cap as well as to crew hires (although no retroactive pay would be given). The Advisory Committee reported that teachers were plea_ sed at the prospect that the cap might be lifted as well as retroactively removed for current teachers w o were hired under it. Teachers see this cap as making recruitment more difficult and reducing the diversity that could be gained by hiring experienced teachers. Although the response to the suggested enhancements was mixed and rather limited, the Advisory Committee stated that the bulk of support centered on Enhancement No. 3 which would provide tuition for teachers who successfully complete courses directly related to their present assignments. Some respondents voiced the concern that a bonus