The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education sent school administrators notice July 23 that the Career Ladder program may be at risk of cuts when legislators return for the 2010 session. The program provides educators pay for extra work and serves as a means for them to improve their salaries.
At Houston, 71 teachers participate, receiving $313,000. Of that amount, $150,000 is locally funded and $163,000 comes from the state.
DESE received notice in June from the Rep. Allen Icet, House Budget Committee chairman, and Sen. Gary Nodler, Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, that the General Assembly cannot assure that participants in the Career Ladder Program for the 2009-2010 school year and beyond will be supported by state appropriation.
“This news and the uncertainty implied in the announcement will certainly shake up school districts as educators, already receiving less pay than other professionals, receive a jolt in their plans to work more to earn a boost in pay in a depressed economy,” says Missouri NEA President Chris Guinther, a teacher on leave from the Francis Howell School District. “Any cuts in this program should be phased in over time to minimize the impact on individual districts and teachers. Losses to this program’s funding will result in lost compensation to teachers through both salary incentives and retirement. And teachers who have made decisions affecting their work this summer and fall may not be rewarded for the work they are doing to earn another rung on the career ladder.”