Back-to-School Bell Brings Bigger Paychecks for Utah Teachers

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(KCPW News) Teachers returning to Utah's public school classrooms this month will find their paychecks a bit fatter. An official at the Granite School District says it's the best teacher pay boost in 20 years. KCPW's Julie Rose reports:

 

Bigger paychecks await Utah's public school teachers when the back-to-school bell rings this month. Utah lawmakers wanted those paychecks padded to the tune of 25-hundred dollars. But only about half of Utah's teachers will get that, says Associate State Superintendent Patrick Ogden.

State officials miscalculated how much it would cost to give every teacher a 25-hundred dollar raise as lawmakers intended. Utah lawmakers plan to make up the difference when they reconvene in January. Meanwhile, Ogden says some districts have opted to rearrange their budgets and offer the raises now, in anticipation of the legislative appropriation.

Teachers in the Granite and Jordan School Districts will get about 19-hundred dollars for an average salary increase of about six percent. The result is newer teachers see a bigger percentage increase in their paychecks, says Jordan Education Association President Robin Frodge. She thinks veteran teachers would probably have done better in salary negotiations if lawmakers had sent the money to districts as part of the per pupil allotment. But the legislature was intent on earmarking the money for raises.

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