GMU Salaries: Losing Ground - Part II
GMU Salary Growth and Salaries vs. Local Public School Teachers

Table 1 below shows the raises received by public school teachers in local school systems (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William Counties) over the period 2000-2004.

Table 1
Percentage Raises for Local Public School Teachers and GMU, 2000 – 2004

* Reported increase was 5.7%, but 2 percentage points of that increase was due to four days added to the teachers’ work calendar.
** Effective November 24, 2003.

As a basis for comparison, $10,000 at the beginning of the year 2000 would have grown to $11,446 for Arlington school teachers; $11,477 for teachers in Fairfax County; and $11,683 and $12,048 for teachers in Loudoun and Prince William Counties, respectively. The comparable figure for GMU is $10,532. Clearly GMU faculty are losing ground relative to their public school counterparts. It is important also to note that Fairfax County has announced a 7.1 percent increase for the 2004-2005 academic year and that the head of the Alexandria school board is getting a raise of 6.5 percent which is a harbinger of the size of the increase to be given to the staff and teachers.

The annual percentage increase, however, is just part of the pay raise package received by local school teachers. An important component of teacher’s pay increases is related to length of service. In addition to the annual percentage increase shown in Table 1, each year, a teacher’s salary is increased automatically by “degree steps,” as shown in Table 2 for Fairfax County teachers. The size of “degree step” increases is not trivial. For example, consider a teacher with a BA. The salary increase for the second year of service due to the degree step is $573 (Table 2, column 2, $37,460 minus $36,887); the raise for the third year of service increases to $1,500 (Table 2, column 2, $38,960 minus $37,460); and for the third year, the degree step increase is $1,556 ($40,516 minus $38,960), etc. As length of service increases, so does the size of the degree step. Had the “degree step” amounts shown in Table 2 been in place for the 5-year period 2000 through 2004, a teacher with a BA who started in the system in 1999 would have received a total increase due to degree steps alone of $5,291. Thus, automatic longevity increases and annual percentage raises have resulted in substantial raises in the pay of local school teachers while the pay of GMU faculty and staff has remained virtually stagnant. From Table 3, it is apparent that the salaries of public school teachers with even a BA or MA degree compare favorably with the pay of many GMU professors with comparable years of service.

Table 2
Fairfax County FY 2005 Teacher Salary Scale

* Maximum entry step.
** Eligibility for Longevity Step 1 is two years on step 20 plus a BA+30.
Eligibility for Longevity Step 2 is two years on Longevity Step 1.
Eligibility for Longevity Step 3 is two years on Longevity Step 2.

Table 3 contains information on levels of starting salaries of public school teachers. In the jurisdictions listed, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience receives a minimum of $34,742. This sum, though certainly meager given the cost of living in the Washington metro area, is greater than the starting salaries of some full-time new hires with doctoral degrees at GMU. In some GMU departments, salaries around $30,000 are being offered to new hires with doctorates. In the Fairfax County schools, a PhD with no experience will start out at $44,982 (Table 3). Thus, a deliberate effort should be made to raise the pay of those at GMU on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

Table 3
Starting Salaries at Local Public Schools, 2000 – 2004

Although no one would argue that public school teachers have exactly the same professional responsibilities and duties as university faculty—school teachers spend much more time in the classroom, but typically do not engage in research and publication—the comparison is constructive nonetheless. There are important differences between university faculty and public school teachers, however, relevant to this comparison. Public school teachers are far more politically organized, more politically active, and more numerous than university faculty. The Virginia Education Association is an effective lobbying group representing the interests of Virginia’s public school teachers at the state level; at the local level of government, teachers’ associations are also active. If university faculty are to improve our salaries and economic status, we must effectively make our case to public policy makers about the critical need for generous support of higher education.

As faculty, we must become more engaged in the political process to achieve more equitable treatment for higher education. If we do not speak up and speak out for higher education, the economic status of university faculty will continue to erode over time. For college and university faculty, the organizational counterpart of the Virginia Education Association is the AAUP, the American Association of University Professors (www.aaup.org). Only a small number of GMU Faculty are currently AAUP members, and the same is true at other Virginia universities. Without membership and financial resources, the Virginia State AAUP and the national office can accomplish little on behalf of university faculty. Please consider joining the AAUP(www.aaup.org/membership/joinaaup.htm) organization and taking an active role in political advocacy for higher education in Virginia.

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