By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Schools is starting the school year with 25 new teachers. During their exit interviews, many of the experienced teachers said they were leaving due to the low pay.
That is raising troubling red flags, Superintendent Francis Scruci said Tuesday during the monthly school board meeting.
“We have teachers leaving us because they can make more money someplace else,” he said.
Scruci referred to a recent story in the Toledo Blade about area school salaries for 12 districts in Wood and Lucas counties. With the average teacher salary in Ohio being $58,849, only Bowling Green and Toledo City Schools were below that average.
According to information from the Ohio Department of Education, the state median salary for teachers is $56,117. The median salaries at school districts in Wood County are as follows:
- Rossford: $75,766
- Perrysburg: $60,412
- Eastwood: $59,523
- Otsego: $58,221
- Northwood: $53,186
- Lake: $50,544
- Elmwood: $50,134
- Bowling Green: $48,843
- North Baltimore: $39,668
While Scruci said he is pleased with the 25 new teachers hired for this school year, he is concerned about the loss of quality experienced staff. The district relies on consistency in its teaching to continue improving the state report card grades.
When the district loses seasoned staff, it loses the investment made in those teachers and then has to start from scratch with new staff.
“If we start over with 25 new faces every year,” it will be difficult to keep making consistent improvements on state report cards, he said. “If that happens every year, we’re in trouble.”
Scruci warned that raising BG salaries will require an increase in operating funds. The district is going into negotiations this year with staff, he said.
Scruci also mentioned some troubling trends that could worsen the teacher attraction and retention issue. Nationwide a teacher shortage is being predicted. So low salaries will make it even more difficult to attract and retain good teachers.
“If you’re not paying, they’re not coming,” he said.
The shortage has already hit some areas in the western U.S. Some of those districts have been hiring people without education degrees to teach, and others are going to four-day school weeks to save on costs.
Todd Sayler, a parent at the school board meeting, said Bowling Green’s low ranking in the teacher pay numbers in the paper was “very shocking.”
Sayler talked about the value of keeping good staff, and said he realized that efforts to bring up those salaries will require a levy on the ballot.
