Group recommends freezing teacher pay

School districts statewide were hit with a 7 percent cut Thursday by the state Budget and Control Board.

This will take away $164.7 million from public school budgets and comes on economic forecasts that the state's unemployment rate could reach 14 percent next year. Overall, South Carolina plans to cut spending by more than $380 million.

Two thirds of the money will come from public school and health budgets.

The Education Oversight Committee (EOC) recommended Monday that state teacher pay be frozen next year. The average Cherokee County teacher will earn $47,004 this school year.

The EOC, which oversees the state's school accountability law, further recommended discontinuing a $7,500 National Board supplement after all current obligations are met. Teachers who are currently certified or still in the application pipeline will receive the supplement for the life of the 10-year certificate.

These are among the budget and policy recommendations the EOC will bring to lawmakers for action in January. The committee was formed by lawmakers in 1998 to develop the state report card and implement the Education Accountability Act.

The committee chose to preserve teacher salaries at the current year's average to keep teachers in the classroom.

"Although the committee wanted to match the projected 2009 Southeastern average of $48,261, we faced the threat of losing up to 1,000 teacher jobs," said Mike Brenan, chairman of the subcommittee that brought initial recommendations to the EOC on Monday. "If it is a choice between losing teachers and increasing salaries, then the right choice is keeping teachers in the classroom."

School administrators are paid with local taxpayer money. Salaries and benefits typically account for as much as 90 percent of school district budgets statewide.

Salaries for teachers and school administrators are among the issues school trustees will have to review if the current budget problems continue, school board chairman Billy Blackwell said.

"We are going to have to watch a lot of things right now," Blackwell said. "With the way it's going, we might not be able to provide a local match for teachers and school administrators like we have been able to in the past."

The Cherokee County School District has already cut nonessential travel, withheld 10 percent from school budgets and asked teachers to voluntarily keep absences to a minimum so the district can produce additional savings from its $1 million substitute teacher budget.

The Education Oversight Committee has recommended suspending funding for five Education Improvement Act programs for one year. Those programs are art curriculum grants, teacher grants, Palmetto Gold and Silver awards, outside review teams in underperforming schools, and instructional materials.

These funds would be transferred to school districts to use for teacher salaries and benefits.

"The impact of the state economic crisis required the committee to examine all aspects of EIA funding," Brenan said. "We had to look at consolidating, restructuring, suspending, and eliminating programs in order to preserve services to children."