No one likes the idea of a wage freeze. While the paycheck stays the same, the cost of living doesn't. Prices for things like food, clothing, health care, education and home and car maintenance almost always go up.
Yet, understanding the dire state of the economy, Forest Lake teachers recently agreed to a two-year contract that doesn't include a cost-of-living pay hike. Because Forest Lake is one of the first of Minnesota's 340 school districts to settle a contract this year, the agreement should help set the tone for other negotiations.
Many districts have gone as far as they can with nonpersonnel budget cuts. Now, with flat state school funding and declining enrollments, they have to find ways to reduce labor costs.
In addition to forgoing cost-of-living hikes, Forest Lake educators agreed to give up "step," or seniority-based, pay hikes during the first year of the pact. Step increases will be reinstated in the second year, and teachers will continue to receive "lane" pay increases, which are awarded for additional education.
The adjustments will save the district about $1.7 million over its original two-year cost projections. As a result, school leaders say they can scale back on the $6 million in cuts they anticipated for the next two years.
Other Minnesota districts are hoping to have similar results at the bargaining table. St. Paul administrators have said they will ask employees for a pay freeze to help address a projected $25 million deficit. And Spring Lake Park school officials have included lower-than-usual teacher pay increases in next year's budget.
During the last round of Minnesota teacher negotiations, covering 2007-09, contracts cost the average Twin Cities district about 8 percent more than previous agreements, according to the Minnesota School Board Association. Even with federal stimulus funding plugging some holes in school budgets, many districts cannot afford those kinds of increases.
And during 2006-07, according to a national American Federation of Teachers report, educators across the country received the highest salary increases the profession had seen in 15 years. Average increases of 4.5 percent nationally brought the average teacher salary up to $51,000.
