Detroit charter school to pay teachers $100K in push to attract qualified educators
Nearly all — 95% — of the teachers at the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences were certified seven years ago.
This school year, 35% of the charter school district's teachers are certified, according to school CEO Maurice Morton.
The sharp drop in qualified educators has led the district of charter schools on Detroit's east side to launch an ambitious new promise to prospective hires: Teachers deemed highly qualified will be paid $100,000, about $40,000 more than teachers are paid now on average at the K-8 school district. About 1,000 students are enrolled in the school's three buildings on Jefferson Avenue, and nearly 100% are from low-income homes.
"When you give teachers a livable wage, it makes the profession important," said Krystal Thomas, a science teacher at the school. "It's also going to draw people who really want to do the work and will put in the effort to make sure that the kids are moving forward."
The average teacher salary in Michigan hovers around $65,000, according to state data.
Scrambling to boost Michigan's supply of teachers
The charter's plan comes during a slew of announcements this month from organizations across Michigan in the battle to recruit and retain qualified teachers. On Thursday, Teach for America Detroit announced an expanded effort to support more than 700 educators in the next five years in five communities beyond Detroit.
The Michigan Department of Education also announced that 80 school districts in Michigan will receive $500,000 in grants for "grow your own" programs, which encourage current school employees to seek certification in areas where districts are experiencing shortages. The grants appear to have been highly desirable for districts: The department received 160 applications asking for $8.5 million for the grants. It had just $500,000 to award. The grants are just one element in a $575 million state budget effort supported by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to strengthen the state's educator pipeline to public schools.
At the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences, Morton said the district is prioritizing putting state funding into teacher salaries, calling the $100,000 initiative the "Best-in-class program." Gesturing to a group of students joining the charter school's leaders at a Thursday news conference, Morton said the effort is meant to strengthen academics. He hopes to recruit a slate of model teachers to lead in the charter's classrooms.
More: Teach For America aims to support 700+ teachers to five communities across Michigan
More: Detroit Schools have not seen money proposed in right-to-read settlement — but could soon
"It's an issue when you have subs in the classroom; it constantly impacts the consistency of the education that these wonderful scholars receive on a day-to-day basis," he said.
The number of substitute teachers in place of certified teachers at the charter schools has crept up in recent years, according to state data, from four day-to-day substitute teachers in the 2019-20 school year to 32 this school year.
The charter school district has already posted a model teacher application on its website. Teachers eligible have more than five years of classroom experience, have been rated "highly effective" in the state's rating system for two years, and must have a valid Michigan teacher certification.
Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences to pay qualified teachers $100K
