Teacher Salary Analysis

UPDATE 10/29/2013:

In direct response to the question of whether 40% of our teachers make $90,000 or more, Gary Mala, Superintendent, provided the following information today.

Total Certified Staff (including psychologists, social workers, etc.) = 315

Administrators = 13

All Certified Staff = 328

Of the certified staff, 107, or 33.97%, make $90,000 or more. All Administrators, 13, make $90,000 or more.  Therefore, 120 certified staff, or 35.59%, make $90,000 or more.

At the parents' meeting on Common Core Standards this evening, Gary also said: "The strength of Avon's schools lies with it's teachers. It always has and it always will."

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I got a question at the landfill Friday morning about whether I think it is excessive that “40%” of our teachers make $90,000 or more. I didn't have all the facts but my response was that we may pay our teachers well but our per pupil expenditures are still lower than towns like Simsbury and Farmington. Here is what I found when I had time to do some research:

1.      Avon's per pupil expenditure in 2011-12 of $12,944 was lower than all but 1 of 7 bordering towns including Avon. Farmington spent $14,103 per pupil (rank #2), and Simsbury spent $13,560 (rank #3). (Source: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/dgm/report1/basiccon.pdf)

2.      The minimum salary for a teacher in Avon is $49,886 and the maximum is $97,233 both of which are the highest of 7 bordering towns including Avon. The minimum in Farmington is $45,932, and it is $43,798 in Simsbury. The maximum in Farmington is $94,609, and it is in Simsbury it is $92,335. Simsbury and Farmington also pay additional compensation for longevity and although Avon does not, Avon's salaries are still higher. (source: http://teachercontracts.conncan.org/)

3.      Avon has the highest ratio of students to teachers, 14.44 students per teacher, compared to our bordering towns. There are 13.80 students per teacher in Simsbury and 12.72 students per teacher in Farmington. (sources: number of teachers  http://teachercontracts.conncan.org/, and number of students http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/dgm/report1/basiccon.pdf)

4.      Avon’s median family income, including all residents working or retired, ranks #2 at $136,583. Simsbury ranks #1 at $140,080 and Farmington #4 at $110,377. (source: http://www.ct.gov/ecd/cwp/view.asp?a=1106&q=250652 - ACS 2011 data)

Conclusion:

TRUE: Avon pays its teachers more than the 6 towns bordering us. It is also true that Avon ranks #2 in median family income. Query: Should Avon’s teachers be able to afford to live in the town where they provide such an essential service as educating our children?

It can also be concluded that because Avon has the highest ratio of students to teachers our per pupil expenditures for education rank only 6th out of 7 bordering towns. Is this something of which Avon’s residents should be proud or does this make it more difficult to stay competitive for the long term?