Mesa Public Schools gives teachers raises despite tight budget

May 19—The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board voted last week to give educators and support staff a pay bump next year.

The board unanimously approved a 4% salary increase for returning certified teachers and 3% for returning support staff, hourly employees and administrators.

The district also agreed to revisit compensation and potentially give more if additional money becomes available from the state Legislature later this year.

The Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs have yet to produce a preliminary budget that covers about a $1.5 billion deficit across this fiscal year and the one that begins July 1.

Republican lawmakers have said informally on numerous occasions that education funding would not be cut, though no details have emerged on how state leaders will trim spending to produce a constitutionally-required balanced budget.

In MPS' updated compensation plan, starting salaries are rising more modestly: 2.5% for teachers and 2% for staff and administrators.

Next year's pay increases are smaller than the historic bump the district approved in 2022, but they are noteworthy because they are happening in the face of financial challenges for the district.

Due to declining enrollment and the expiration of pandemic aid dollars, MPS earlier this year approved trimming 385 full-time positions next school year — an unusually large number.

MPS is also trying to reduce planned capital expenditures due to the failure of its $500 million bond request at the polls last November. Its last bond authorization, from 2018, has been exhausted.

District administrators recommended the pay increases following discussions with multiple employee groups.

More than a dozen district employees came to the board meeting to urge passage of the compensation plan and say the raises are needed.

"The employees when I talked to them about (the raises) are ecstatic — they didn't think that this was a possibility," a Westwood teacher told the board. "Many are concerned about their livelihoods, about cost of living. This is a big concern.

"Many of our classified and certified staff are facing the same hardships that a lot of our Mesa families are," a Webster Elementary teacher said in public comments. "The best way to keep the excellent teachers and (instructional assistants) and everybody that helps our students learn ... is to have them go into the summer completely sure of where they're going to work next year."

MPS Governing Board President Marcie Hutchinson said that prioritizing pay for teachers and staff "has been the philosophy of the board since I've been on it."

"We can't pay our teachers commensurate with the value that they provide the community with the education of our children," she said.

Hutchinson added that one reason the district could offer raises despite leaner times ahead was the passage of the budget override last November, which squeaked by while the capital improvement bonds failed.

"Remember that the override passed, and what's the override for? Salaries," Hutchinson said. "That's the commitment that the community has made to salaries."

MPS currently employs about 4,100 teachers. It says on its website the average salary is $64,046 — about 4% lower than Chandler Unified School District's $67,657 and Scottsdale Unified School District's $67,809 average salaries.

At $54,035, MPS's starting salary for new teachers is on par with Chandler Unified and $5,000 higher than Scottsdale Unified, according to the MPS website.

Ten years ago, the starting salary at MPS was about $38,000, according to the district.

In March, the state Auditor General's annual report on spending by school districts for the 2022-23 school year listed the average salary of Mesa teachers at $70,983 a year — $8,049 above the state average for that year.

The AG report also said, however, that 79% of the district's teachers have at least four years' experience and listed their average annual salary at $63,090. Teachers with three or fewer years' experience in the district earned an average $52,615, according to the AG report.

The AG also said the average years of experience for MPS teachers last school year was 13.3 years.

In 2022, the district received an extra $32 million in state funding as a result of a $1 billion state budget surplus.

The board opted to put the windfall toward a historic investment in teacher salary increases, approving a 5% increase plus $3,000. Hourly employees received a $3 per hour bump.

"Three years ago, I emailed the board and said that I could not afford to live in the community where I teach," a Westwood High teacher said in public comments. "After a meet and confer process after some raises, I was able to find a place to live and pay my rent and my car payment at the same time, and that has continued."