CAPE SCHOOLS LOSING NEW TALENT

Despite a local university and strong community support, the Cape Girardeau School District has problems attracting and retaining teachers because the salaries don't match its status as the third-largest school district in Southeast Missouri.

School officials say the district's operating tax rate simply doesn't support its operating expenses. Staff members say something must give to accommodate the district's increased expenses, and they hope it will be taxpayers.

The board of education likely will ask voters to approve an operating tax increase this year to fund, among other regular expenses, increased salaries for teachers. The specific amount of increase hasn't been decided, but it is a request staff said must be answered soon to protect the quality of teachers and education in the district.

Assistant superintendent Mark Bowles, who handles personnel issues for Cape Girardeau schools, said university students at recruitment fairs are polite but generally distant when they visit his table.

"The truth is, it's somewhat of a tough sell," Bowles said. "You can usually pick out the tables where there's money. I haven't had anyone look at the salary schedule and curtly excuse themselves, but I'd say maybe it was because they were too polite."

The district has tapped its reserves in recent years to cover operational costs including salaries, which comprise about three-fourths of the annual budget. By June 30, the balances are expected to dip to about 3 percent of the annual $23 million budget, a level the state considers critically low.

District business manager Rob Huff, a former math teacher, said he is keeping a tight rein on finances this year in an effort to keep the balances as high as possible. Efficient management is important to the community, he said, but it must be done without negatively impacting students.

"We're not leaving kids without textbooks, we're just trying to take a good look at the bottom line and make sure we're only spending what we have to," Huff said.

Tough decisions

Social studies teacher Brenda Woemmel, who is president of the local Missouri National Education Association (MNEA) chapter, said morale has remained high among most teachers despite the lack of resources. However, they realize the budget is already lean, and salaries are the most likely place for cuts.

"At that balance, something's going to have to give. You're going to have to start making decisions to say we've got to do without this or that," she said. "If you have a district where you're not going to be moving significantly on the salary schedule, you're going to start looking at some other type of job or another district."

Woemmel said an average of 22 first-year teachers have left the district each of the past three years, and overall staff turnover was high in the same time period.

Fewer than half of those who left were veteran teachers, although some participated either in an early retirement option the district offered as a cost-saving measure in 1997 or a state program that offered financial incentives to teachers to retire at 25 years instead of 30.

Mendi Gragg, a second-year teacher who works with the district's preschool program, said many new teachers without roots in Cape Girardeau simply follow the money trail.

"I think teachers are underpaid anyway, and so people, when they first start out, are really looking for some way to support themselves," she said.

Teachers are paid based on salary schedules that offer better pay for advanced education and years of experience. Most smaller schools in the region compress their salary schedules, offering higher front-end salaries but providing little additional money for veteran teachers.

Larger Southeast Missouri districts, including Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Jackson, Sikeston and Poplar Bluff, all offer less compression, which makes their districts more attractive to experienced teachers.

However, Cape Girardeau's base salary of $21,430 for a new teacher with a bachelor's degree is well below the average for other districts of its size. In a ranking of 522 of the state's 525 school districts for the 1999-2000 school year, the MNEA ranked Cape Girardeau 95th overall for its salary schedule but 39th out of 40th for districts its size.

"It is one of the larger school districts, and what that means is that most of the districts that size will be found in suburban areas, and they're going to pay more," said Peggy Cochran, executive director of MNEA. "I think money, at least enough money to live, is a very important thing to new teachers and especially if they're the non-traditional teachers who maybe are a little bit older and have families to support."

Intangible benefits

Micah Janzow, a first-year Central Junior High School science teacher, said he applied in Cape Girardeau because he is an area native, district teachers have a reputation for helping inexperienced colleagues and the district enjoys close proximity to a university, allowing him to continue his education.

Janzow said he also wanted to teach in the district because of the atmosphere he witnessed while volunteering to help with the district's football program as a college student.

"Being around in the buildings, I got to see what type of environment it was as far as the staff," he said. "It's a good place to work, but the only way students would get to see it is if they go to the university and get placed here for student teaching."

Woemmel, who has spent 22 years in Cape Girardeau schools, said the community and staff camaraderie are good sells for the district and help to keep younger teachers enthused. But with fewer people choosing teaching as a career and more veteran teachers reaching retirement age, school officials must make the district more competitive so they can attract the best teachers of all levels of experience.

"We've done a really good job of maintaining educational quality and level of student achievement, but as the teacher shortage becomes more acute it will be tougher to do that," she said. "I think the community is certainly intelligent enough to look at the finances of the situation and know that with diminishing balances, if they want all the programs and all the curriculum opportunities that students now have, we're going to have to have a balance that's going to let us do that.".

AREA TEACHERS' SALARIES

School District Starting Salary Maximum Salary

Cape Girardeau $21,430 $43,310

Farmington $25,500 $54,945

Jackson $24,000 $47,583

Poplar Bluff $22,800 $43,138

Sikeston $23,545 $44,214

SOURCE: Mo. National Education Association, 2000-2001