Ask OSPI: How Will Supt. Reykdal’s Plan to Increase Educator Retention Work?
On October 20, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal announced his plan to increase retention of Washington educators by providing hiring bonuses for positions that are harder to fill, increasing salaries for all school employees, addressing inequities in the current school funding model, and funding neighboring school districts more equitably to reduce competition over staff. The plan will be under consideration by the Governor and Legislature during the 2023 Legislative Session.
The proposal has multiple parts and may raise some questions. Below, OSPI provides clarification and details about the plan.
Q: How are school employees’ salaries determined?
A: The state Legislature provides funding to each school district to pay for staffing, and then actual salaries are determined as a partnership between school district administrators and the local labor associations.
The Legislature’s funding model pays for each position at an average salary level. School districts have flexibility to reallocate the dollars as needed to meet their unique needs.
Q: Who is eligible for the 6% increase to educators’ base salaries?
A: Certificated instructional staff (CIS), certificated administrative staff (CAS), and non-administrative classified staff (CLS) are included in the proposed 6% increase to base salaries.
Certificated instructional staff include classroom teachers, substitute teachers, and educational staff associates (ESAs) like school counselors and nurses. Certificated administrative staff include principals and assistant principals. Non-administrative classified staff include paraeducators, bus drivers, custodians, athletic coaches, office support staff, and professional technical staff.
The proposed increase to base salaries would be effective starting in the 2023–24 school year.
Q: What is the base salary allocation for educators right now?
A: In the 2022–23 school year, the Legislature set the statewide minimum salary allocations at $72,728 for certificated instructional staff, $107,955 for certificated administrative staff, and $52,173 for classified staff.
The salary that an educator is paid is based on many factors, including the cost of living in the local community and determinations by local labor associations. Reykdal’s plan also proposes adjusting the state’s funding model to minimize the variability in salaries.
Q: Who is eligible for one-time hiring bonuses?
A: Special education teachers serving students with disabilities, along with instructional and administrative staff at eligible high-poverty schools, would receive one-time hiring bonuses under Reykdal’s plan.
OSPI’s proposal would provide a one-time hiring bonus of $10,000 to special education teachers. The proposal would provide a one-time hiring bonus of $5,000 to both instructional and administrative staff at eligible high-poverty schools.
Additionally, Reykdal’s plan proposes annual bonuses for bilingual endorsed/certified teachers ($5,000) and paraeducators ($1,500) working in dual language education programs.
Q: How will OSPI retain and support diverse educators?
A: OSPI has submitted proposals to the Legislature to support Washington’s teacher workforce in becoming more reflective of the students they serve.
In the 2020–21 school year, 51% of Washington’s students were identified as White, while 86% of the state’s teaching workforce identified as White. The state’s beginning teachers — those with three or fewer years of experience — continue to outpace the growth in racial diversity of the total teaching workforce. In the 2020–21 school year, 23% of beginning teachers were teachers of color, compared to just 13% of the total teaching population being teachers of color.
To build on this progress, OSPI is proposing an increase in funding for the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) program, an evidence-based program to improve retention of beginning educators by providing mentoring and supports to those educators. The increased funding would allow the program to include ESAs in mentoring, provide additional support for beginning special education teachers, and expand the BEST program statewide.
In another proposal, OSPI is requesting funding to create a teacher residency program that would pay teacher residents as they complete a one-year residency alongside a mentor teacher. This would eliminate many of the financial barriers for college students on a path to earn a teaching certificate, as well as help address statewide teacher shortages.
Q: How will Reykdal’s plan lead to better academic outcomes for students?
A: Educator retention has direct ties to student achievement and overall school culture.
Studies show that in schools with high rates of teacher turnover, students do not perform as well academically as compared to their peers in schools with lower rates of teacher turnover. Higher rates of turnover impact all students — even the students of teachers who stay at the school.
High rates of teacher turnover also negatively affect the teachers who remain at a school. The teachers who stay must work through continued disruptions to schoolwide operations, including disruptions to collegial relationships, collaboration, and losses in institutional knowledge.
Q: Where can I find additional information?
A: Take a look at OSPI’s proposal to increase educator retention.
More information is also available on the OSPI web page about the Washington State Innovates series, which the proposal to increase educator retention is a part of.
This story was written by Chelsea Embree, Communications Strategist at OSPI. You can contact the Communications Team at commteam@k12.wa.us.
