New year means scrambling for teachers

MUNCIE, Ind. — The start of a new school year now comes with a scramble to lock down teachers, according to local school officials.

Superintendents are reporting more teachers moving districts over the summer, more resignations coming in within days of the start of school and a smaller pool of applicants compared to five or more years ago. And, as many as three weeks in, a couple of East Central Indiana districts are still filling openings.

There's a general consensus that the summer movement was caused by the way teachers are paid in Indiana and a statewide shortage of new teachers.

In 2012, state law began requiring teacher pay to be tied to performance evaluations. It meant teachers would no longer receive a pay increase for remaining at a district another year.

Historically, teachers were able to move up a pay scale as they added years of experience, which was separate from a base raise. Now they have to be rated "effective" or "highly effective." And some local districts, including Muncie Community Schools, are unable to give teachers additional money as tax caps cut away at budgets and state funding drops with enrollment.

MCS had 53 teachers leave between May and Aug. 9, or about 11 percent of the 454 certified staff members in 2015-16. But the district only hired back 13 teachers, after cutting positions down to 412 total teachers. Last week the district was still looking for three guidance counselors.

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"My experience of what I know across different school corporations is most teacher evaluations are in those top two categories, and yet they don't even get incremental pay," said Muncie Teacher Association president Pat Kennedy. "They've really not worked at trying to manage their budgets in a way that they have that money."

A teacher being hired into the district with four years experience could be paid more than a teacher who has worked at the district for four years, she explained. She said it's "lead to great demoralization of the teaching profession."

"There’s obviously a system-wide issue and in Indiana there’s this flaw in the compensation system," said Greg Hinshaw, Randolph Central Schools superintendent.

Stephen Fisher, superintendent of New Castle Schools, agreed.

"Nowadays, with the way the state has funded us and the way teachers salaries are determined, they move more often from district to district," he said. "I don’t think the legislature fully grasps the magnitude of the problem."

This opportunity for a salary increase combined with a high demand for teachers creates many opportunities, said Blackford County Schools Superintendent Scot Croner. With fewer young teachers entering the profession, Croner said districts might be more willing to shell out more money and hire someone with experience.

"There is such a shortage right now with teachers around the state, what happens is a lot of veteran teachers now are shopping around," Croner said. "It's more advantageous to jump to a different district."

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Blackford had one of the highest turnover percentages in the area, with 26 new teachers, or 26 percent of the staff. The district was second only to Union Schools, which had seven new teachers, or 29 percent of the staff.

While none of the 19 superintendents who spoke with The Star Press blamed teachers for moving, they did say it makes things difficult when trying to prepare for a new school year. They all seemed to agree that an online job posting doesn't bring in the same number of candidates as it used to.

"A lot of times if you get one or two applicants for a position you consider yourself very fortunate," said Shenandoah Schools superintendent Ron Green. "And that has changed in the last couple years."

Some superintendents said elementary teachers are hard to find, others said specialized high school teachers are scarce. It's caused some schools to be more aggressive and competitive about hiring, going to job fairs and keeping a collection of resumes ready for the summer.

It's also driven a couple districts to put a hold on teachers' resignations. Under state code, a school district can hold a teacher for up to 30 days if they resign within about two weeks of the start of school.

Kennedy said MCS used the measure this year to keep a few teachers through the first few days of school. It can be problematic for the teacher if they were hired by another district.

Monroe Central Schools superintendent Adrian Moulton said the district was waiting for two new teachers to be released from their former districts -- MCS and Blue River Valley Schools --  when school started this year.

"Unfortunately it’s becoming a bigger problem with so much movement," he said.

Contact families & education reporter Emma Kate Fittes at 765-213-5845 and follow @EmmaKate_TSP

Local teacher turnover