CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the state Senate Education Committee began discussing a teacher pay raise bill Thursday but had more questions than answers.
The bill, SB 516, whose chief sponsor is Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, would raise the minimum starting salary of teachers in West Virginia to $50,000 plus provide an annual $2,000 raise for all teachers and an additional $1,200 raise for math and special education teachers.
The average starting salary for teachers in West Virginia is $42,708. The current salary schedule says a teacher with a bachelor’s degree has to be paid at least $38,995 a year.
Committee members raised several questions after discovering that changing the entire salary schedule would keep some teachers stuck at $50,000 for several years before they would receive a pay raise.
“It sounds good to start out but then you don’t get any increases and then it’s only a $2,000 increase even if you have a doctorate,” Sen. Scott Fuller, R-Wayne, said. “This is a great recruiting tool for young teachers coming out of school but it appears to me the retention is going to be horrible.”
Committee Chair Amy Nichole Grady, R-Mason, said the state Department of Education is just beginning to work on a fiscal note for the bill and it would cost at least $70 million.
Education West Virginia Co-President Kristie Skidmore told the committee she was pleased senators were discussing teacher pay raises but she said some changes were needed to the bill.
“I think we lose most of our teachers within that first five years of employment, it’s a tough job,” Skidmore said. “There needs to be some kind of incentive, first of all, to take the job and then to remain in the field.”
Grady decided to put the bill aside without a vote Thursday.
“I feel like it needs more discussion. We brought up a lot of concerns. The fiscal note being one and the impact on teachers who are not beginning teachers would be another,” Grady said.
Skidmore said she’s hopeful discussions will continue.
“We think looking into this a little more, get a fiscal note, get some answers, is certainly worth more discussion,” Skidmore said.