Seattle teachers to receive raises of 9-10%

Seattle teachers will receive raises of 9-10 percent this year, the culmination of a five-year effort to make Seattle Public Schools competitive with surrounding school districts.

Five years ago, the school district and the local teachers union agreed to raise teacher pay enough so that, by this school year, Seattle would rank in the top five in terms of "supplemental pay" — the part of a teacher's salary that the district funds above what the state provides.

Seattle's supplemental pay was the lowest among 12 area school districts when the contract was signed in 2004. Now, the district is fifth on one measure outlined in the contract — the maximum supplemental pay that can be earned by teachers with a master's degree.

Teachers with that education and experience will earn a total of $79,716 this year, up about $6,800 over last year, according to the union. (That increase includes a 4.4 percent cost-of-living increase from the state as well as the jump in supplemental pay.)

On the other key measure — supplemental pay for brand-new teachers — Seattle now ranks first among the 12 districts. First-year teachers with bachelor's degrees will earn $42,005 this school year, the union said, about $3,900 more than new teachers earned last year.

Teacher pay is largely made up of "base pay," provided by state government, plus the district-generated "supplemental" pay, which comes from local property-tax levies. Individual teachers' raises vary according to their education and years of experience. The average increase for Seattle teachers this year is 9.6 percent, with a few receiving about 9 percent, and a few as high as 10.7 percent.

It wasn't clear just how big the raises would be until other area districts settled their contracts for this year. Bellevue, which went on strike for two weeks, was the last to sign, and its pay increases pushed Seattle's higher than the district had anticipated.

The fact that Seattle is in the top five in supplemental pay, however, doesn't necessarily mean it will be in the top five in total teacher pay. But it will at least be closer.

Seattle administrators and union officials hailed the pay increase, saying it fulfills a commitment made five years ago, and they hope it will attain the goal of attracting and keeping more great teachers.

Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson, however, also noted in a prepared statement that the increases are part of the district's increasing costs, which are rising faster than its income. Even when the contract was signed five years ago, it wasn't clear where the district would get the money to cover the raises.

At a school-board meeting Wednesday, the district's chief finance and operations officer reported that the budget for the 2009-2010 school year looks like it will have a gap of about $25 million between expenses and revenues.

This year, the board used about $12.6 million of reserves to balance its $556 million budget, which helped cover rising costs plus the addition of about 100 full-time positions.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359

or lshaw@seattletimes.com