Another state mandate: Telling tapped-out taxpayers to pay teachers more

Editorial Board  Chicago Tribune

Chalk it up to good intentions, bad policy. Democrats in Springfield are pushing legislation that would require public school districts to pay teachers a minimum salary of $40,000. Sounds righteous , right?

The idea is part of a broader agenda to address a teacher shortage mostly outside Chicago in rural districts that struggle to fill openings and retain staff. It’s a serious problem that impacts learning. Kids endure rotations of teachers and substitutes, or miss out altogether on hard-to-staff subject areas such as physics and foreign languages. We get it.

But requiring already cash-strapped districts and property taxpayers to shoulder yet another mandate from Springfield is not the answer — or even part of it. It’s a profound encroachment on local control. The House passed the bill Thursday 61-38. Senators should scrap it.

There are ways to attract quality teachers that don’t involve a state-mandated starting salary. How about lifting nonmonetary barriers that make the profession unattractive? Teachers certified in other states who move to Illinois often deal with more than a year of Illinois State Board of Education roadblocks and paperwork.

Professionals with bachelor’s degrees who decide to teach midcareer face more than a year of required classes, testing and job shadowing.

Have only an associate’s degree but want to teach? Sorry. Here’s your stack of prerequisites. Want to be a substitute teacher someday? Better start the paperwork now. It’ll take a while to get the green light.

Lawmakers in Springfield are working to ease some of these rules. But not fast enough.

Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, says he introduced the $40,000 minimum salary bill in the Senate to force a conversation on the teacher shortage, on disparities in teacher pay and on alternatives to attract young people to the profession. “The licensure process is overly burdensome and there are dozens of examples of that,” he says. “That’s one bucket. But there’s also disparity in pay. I represent teachers who live under the federal poverty level.”

Again, good intentions, bad policy. Locally elected school boards negotiate contracts with their teachers. They know what their budgets can withstand better than legislators in Springfield do. If teachers are underpaid, they can express themselves during school board elections and at the bargaining table. They are not silenced. They’re empowered.

Richard Decman, superintendent of Herscher Community Unit School District No. 2, which serves Kankakee County, says the bill ties the hands of administrators in districts like his where teacher pay starts around $35,000. Increasing that entry point would strain the district’s budget. Teachers higher on the pay scale would get bumped up too. Where’s all that money going to come from?

“It’s not that we’re opposed to paying teachers more. It comes down to local control. We bargain these things. Are we going to say firemen should be paid $50,000 and policemen $60,000 or doctors? What’s next?” he asks.

Exactly. What about nurses or social workers? When will lawmakers actually abide their pledges to stop pushing unfunded mandates onto local governments? This one would be a whopper.

Illinois may need to have the conversation Manar says he wants. But let that conversation also be about dropping onerous barriers to teaching. Peel them back. Open the field. Ease licensing requirements. Encourage career changes for professionals who don’t have teaching degrees.

Senators, don’t follow the bad example of the House. Don’t press the boot of unfunded mandates, once again, on the necks of hundreds of school districts. Or on property taxpayers begging for a breath.