SNOW HILL — Worcester County could begin to see educators and school support staff jumping ship for greener pastures if salaries remain frozen for a fourth year, according to teachers who spoke at this week’s public hearing on the budget.
Though the County Commissioners admitted that was possible, several commissioners pointed out that Worcester offers a lot more to school employees than just a salary.
‘There are huge advantages to teaching in Worcester County,” said Commission President Bud Church.
During a special public budget input session Tuesday, several teachers and a representative for the county system’s support staff spoke to the commission about the importance of offering a competitive salary at the risk of losing the best employees to other counties.
“If I were to graduate today, I probably would not choose to come here,” said Stephen Decatur High School math teacher Amy Fenzel-Mergott, who is also a coach at the school.
After graduating from college in 1986, Fenzel-Mergott explained that she received offers from three counties in Maryland to teach, but chose Worcester because at the time she believed it offered the second highest salary in the state. In actuality, Worcester offered the third highest salary just under Calvert and Queen Anne Counties.
Today, with a starting teaching salary of $42,222, Worcester is ranked 15th out of 24 in terms of starting teacher salaries in Maryland, down from 11th in 2008.
Regardless of salaries, Commissioner Virgil Shockley pointed out that signing up to teach at Worcester comes with side benefits.
“We have good schools,” he said. “We have good community support.”
Shockley framed a question regarding atmosphere versus salary.
“Would you rather work at a place where you’re appreciated or would you rather have a paycheck?” asked Shockley.
Church emphasized the fact that Worcester is the top-rated county in Maryland in reading and math scores as determined by the Maryland State Assessment (MSA). With Maryland often cited as having the best school system in the country, Church went to the reasonable conclusion that Worcester could therefore be considered as having the best public schools in the nation and that teaching at those schools would be attractive for any educator.
Church, who served 10 years on the county’s Board of Education, also pointed out the pro-education environment in Worcester and the low-crime rates in the area, stating that the community is appealing to people for a variety of reasons.
Fringe benefits aside, the message coming from school employees Tuesday was that a competitive salary is still undeniably important.
Teachers, along with other county employees, have not had a pay raise for three years. This year, the Board of Education asked that faculty receive a small pay increase, 1.5 percent for most employees, according to their calculations. Because teachers are county employees, the commission has included a 3-percent salary increase for all workers, school system and every other department member, in the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget.
While teachers have been getting the majority of the coverage in the news, Ivory Smith, vice president of Support Staff for Worcester County Schools, emphasized that custodians, cafeteria workers and other behind the scenes employees are also vital to the operation of a school and deserve a raise as much as anyone.
“When we leave here tonight, guess who’s going to clean-up,” Smith told the commission.
Despite the attractive qualities the county offers, Church admitted that pay does need to be addressed eventually.
“Do we need to do something about teacher salaries? I think we do,” he said.
But whether or not it will be this year, he couldn’t guarantee. With a huge amount of traditionally state funded operations like teacher pensions looking like they will be dropped on individual counties and revenue down this year because of declining property values, Church stressed that there simply isn’t enough money to pay for everything people want.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jon Andes admitted that Church and Shockley were both correct and that Worcester does offer a lot besides a competitive salary to teachers and faculty. However, he explained that in trying to attract newly graduated teachers, most of which are fresh from college and saddled with debt from student loans, the number on the check makes a big difference.
“We do have great working conditions, but great working conditions don’t pay student loans,” Andes said.
In the case of support staff like custodians, Andes hammered the $21,221 starting salary, which he classified as “low” and “deserving of a pay increase.”
Beyond the practical, Andes also said that giving all county employees, not just teachers and school faculty, the proposed 3-percent raise would go a long way toward recognizing the extra work done in the past three years, which have been lean for almost everyone.
“It sends a message that that individual is important,” he said.