JACKSON SCHOOLS EXAMINE TEACHER EXPERIENCE

JACKSON -- A policy of the Jackson Board of Education is to attract the most qualified teachers, but another board policy might get in the way, Superintendent Howard Jones told the board Tuesday.

When teachers hire into the school district the school system only gives them credit for six years experience teaching outside the district no matter how many years they have taught elsewhere.

Like nearly all school districts, Jackson public schools pay its teachers based on how much college credit they have earned and the number of years of experience.

"We would like to move that to a higher number so we can recruit more experienced teachers to our district," Jones said. "If they have 15 or 16 years experience, and we can only give them six years credit, we can't compete with those who give credit for more."

Board member Marvin Adams asked for the rationale for the limit.

Jones said some people believe that "having investment within this community is worth more than experience in another place."

Adams said he wondered if hiring a large number of experienced teachers at once could create budget problems.

Assistant Superintendent Fred Jones said the district hasn't had that problem. "It really is an inequity to have someone give up $10,000 to $15,000 to come here from another district," he said.

Howard Jones recommended that the board consider raising the number and said he would recommend a specific number at a future board meeting. He said that if the board agrees, it should be done one year at a time so that "if we go to 10, what about someone we hired last year with only six?"

In other business, the board adopted a budget of $20.1 million in expenditures, up from $17.9 million in 1996-97. Some of the difference is bond-issue money to be spent on construction. The combined teachers and general-operating budget calls for spending nearly $16.8 million, up from $15.2 million.

It anticipates 100 new students and 12 new teachers. Howard Jones said those figures are tentative. The board will adopt a more detailed and accurate budget in September after the administration has a better handle on the amount of revenue coming in and the number of students attending.

Fred Jones told the board that preliminary results from the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Test indicate that Jackson students did better than the state average. He said "the most consistently high-achieving areas" were second and fifth grades, especially fifth-grade science.

He said eighth-, ninth- and 10th-grade science and eighth-grade math were "areas of concern." He said tests pointed out specific skills that students in those grades need to work on.