Prop S deserves a ‘yes’ vote
By NewsPress Now
A proposed 60% pay increase should send morale through the roof, but some observers noticed a surprisingly tepid response to a significant development in starting salaries for Missouri teachers.
It isn’t that school officials lacked appreciation for legislation that seeks to raise starting pay from $25,000 to $40,000 in Missouri, where teaching salaries have languished near the bottom of the national rankings.
Those in the education business may recognize that a significant gap exists between the promises of Jefferson City and the realities of developing a school district budget. That gap is reflected in three words that serve as the fine print on any spending bill that makes it out of the legislature: subject to appropriations.
The legislature can make all of the promises it wants. Still, at the end of the day, it’s going to fall on local taxpayers to do the heavy lifting that makes teaching salaries competitive with neighboring states and school districts.
In St. Joseph, voters in the Aug. 6 election have a chance to provide more than empty promises and vague appreciation of teachers. If approved, Proposition S will raise the St. Joseph School District’s operating levy from $4.3207 per $100 valuation to $4.9163 — an increase of 13%. SJSD full-time staff will receive a flat $2,750 increase if Prop S passes, helping to push base teacher pay closer to nearby districts with higher starting salaries, including North Kansas City, West Platte, Platte County, Liberty, Lee’s Summit and Park Hill. Even Savannah and Cameron, at $43,000, pay more than the $40,000 St. Joseph cobbled together through a deficit-spending plan approved earlier this year.
Deficit spending is not a sustainable model. Prop S, however, provides a viable approach to attracting and retaining qualified teachers.
The measure is known as a Prop C rollback because it waives a 40-year-old property tax reduction that went into effect with the passage of a sales/use tax for schools and highways. Since 1982, the SJSD is one of 26 districts statewide that has not approved a Prop C waiver.
The time has come to approve a waiver, and not only because Prop S benefits teachers. Competitive pay means better teachers, better schools and ultimately a better chance at growth in this community. It’s hard to imagine the district attracting much interest for its superintendent opening if this simple measure fails to pass.
To put it another way, you can’t constantly claim the state needs to support education if local taxpayers refuse to back measures that strengthen schools and the teaching profession at the district level.
In St. Joseph, voters have a chance to make a strong statement on Aug. 6. They should vote yes on Prop S.
