At the Thompson School District Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, public comment was dominated by two issues: charter schools and the memorandum of understanding that was not approved at a previous meeting. According to board policy, the MOU cannot be revisited. Loveland teachers, or more specifically, the Thompson Education Association (TEA), will hopefully move forward with a new normal that does not include a binding contract. It does, however, include an enviable benefits schedule and an opportunity for increased pay.
Increased pay would be a great benefit for the teachers in Loveland. Greg Grote, president of the Poudre Education Association, was the first speaker in the public comment line-up at the meeting. Supporting his fellow association* members, he implored the TSDBOE to reconsider the MOU, making the case that of the new hires by the Poudre School District, 11% came from TSD. Loveland schools, he said, are bleeding teachers because of the uncertainty brought by this board. Grote’s 11% was met with an audible gasp in the board room.
A statistic that shocking should be examined. So far in this hiring season, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports that PSD has posted 134 teaching jobs. At 11% and rounding up, PSD has hired 15 teachers from the Thompson School District. That’s about 10% of the 155 teachers who are expected to leave TSD. It is possible that these teachers are looking for better opportunities. With a commute of fewer than 10 miles, the Poudre School District pays considerably better than TSD and offers impressive benefits, both tangible and in opportunity. Teachers who move into PSD from other districts are overwhelmed with the generosity of their district – AS THEY SHOULD BE – but this is not coming from an MOU. It comes from outstanding leadership in the buildings and a community that, as one of the most educated in the nation, values education. Further, PSD serves a more affluent population and the schools benefit from that.
The crux of Mr. Grote’s argument is that PSD was hiring exceptional teachers out of TSD, obviously leaving shortcomings in TSD’s teacher pool. PSD is surely hiring the best teachers, with over 250 applications for each position the district can be selective, but perhaps not simply because of the MOU. There is a major shortcoming in the TSD payscale: experienced teachers will not necessarily see pay increases based on years served. A 20-year teacher with a master’s degree will make at most $63K teaching in Loveland. In the Poudre School District, that teacher could make $74K. The TSD teacher will have no opportunity for increased pay unless base pay for all teachers is increased. The PSD teacher will continue to advance in pay with more years of service. As a quality, experienced and educated teacher it seems wise to move to from the Thompson School District into the Poudre School District. It is encouraging to know that teachers are making the rational and educated decisions we hope they teach our children to make.
The TSDBOE is working to rectify these disparities between TSD and the better-performing PSD, but the TEA, community, and even students, since they have become involved, will need to be open-minded and truly work toward a better solution. It is unproductive to call for a return to an MOU that is no longer relevant and it is damaging to look to the failed policies of the past.
*Apparently, there is a difference between a teachers’ union and a teachers’ association. The distinction has to do with membership terms and collective bargaining. The TEA is bargaining, so….