TEACHER SALARIES, BENEFITS NEED BOOST, SAYS MSTA

The Missouri State Teachers Association gives public-school districts an A for effort in their progress toward improving salaries and benefits of public-school teachers in the state.

However, the association said improvements still need to be made in salaries and expenditures per student.

A report released by the organization said the 525 public-school districts in Missouri have increased minimum salaries and outpaced inflation in maximum salaries at an impressive rate. But Missouri teachers' salaries still averaged approximately $5,500 below the national average of $37,324 in 1995-96, and estimated expenditures per pupil were about $1,000 below the national average of $6,098, MSTA said.

The numbers resulted in rankings of 37 and 41 for the state in the areas of average teacher salary and current expenditures per pupil, respectively.

Overall, the report applauded Missouri's efforts to ease teacher salary compaction, which is the proximity of salaries regardless of education and experience. The report said passage of the Outstanding Schools Act promised to create even less compaction in the future.

"Senate Bill 380, commonly known as the Outstanding Schools Act, promises to have a strong impact on the structure level of Missouri salary schedules," the report said. "The rate of average growth in all salary schedules for all levels of education outpaced inflation again this year, especially for bachelor's and master's maximums. The result in many districts appears to be an easing of the chronic salary compaction that characterized many previous years."

James L. Morris, director of public information for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, agreed. He said the Outstanding Schools Act has helped many experienced educators who were earning the same as first-year co-workers, and the impact of the law won't be seen for several more years.

"We probably won't know how much that has affected our educational system for a couple of years," he said. "The state hasn't tinkered in local salaries very much. We've helped establish a reasonable entry level salary so school districts can compete on a more even scale statewide, and we've created some general funding mechanisms. Other than that, we've basically given local school districts the flexibility to build salary and budget schedules to fit their needs."

In contrast to the low rankings on salary and expenditures per pupil, Missouri ranked 11th in the nation for its percentage of the total state budget designated for education. The state earmarked nearly a quarter of its 1995-96 budget for education, outranking all neighboring states.

"Gov. Mel Carnahan has called for increases in the budget for education this year," Morris said. "He and the legislators have held to their intention to fully fund the school funding formula and improve education. Educational funding has been much healthier in the past five years, and the signs are favorable that as long as our economy is healthy we'll continue to be able to provide for it."

In 1995-96, Missouri ranked last in the nation for its percentage of state and local taxes designated for education. Morris said that this figure represented historically low percentages for the state.

"Missourians are proud of their ability to do less with more," Morris said. "Maybe there's room for improvement, but overall our educational system is getting the most for our dollars."

PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT A GLANCE

Some selected statistics about Missouri public schools for the 1996-97 school year according to the Missouri State Teachers Association:

Estimated enrollment (K-12) last September: 883,286

Number of school districts: 525

Estimated number of high-school graduates in 1996: 48,870

Estimated percentage of high-school graduates entering college in fall 1996: 56.8

Estimated national average salary for 1995-96 classroom teachers: $37,846

Missouri's estimated average salary for 1995-96 classroom teachers: $32,324

Estimated national average for current expenditures per pupil in average daily attendance for 1995-96: $6,098

Missouri's estimated average for 1995-96: $5,078

MISSOURI'S RANKINGS:

37th -- 1995-96 per-pupil expenditure

28th -- 1995-96 average teacher salaries

11th -- 1995-96 percentage of total state budget for education

26th -- 1995 per-capita income

50th -- State and local taxes as percentage of personal income

25th -- Education funding sources

LOCAL SALARIES:

CAPE GIRARDEAU SCHOOLS

Bachelor's degree -- minimum, $21,000; maximum, $26,830*

*Master's degree -- minimum, $23,830; maximum: $36,820*

JACKSON SCHOOLS

Bachelor's degree -- minimum, $20,665; maximum, $36,546*

*Master's degree -- minimum, $23,450; maximum, $32,600*

*Maximum salaries do not include extended maximums after completion of a certain number of graduate hours and years.