There’s not much young blood in the Warwick school system and according to a top administrator – that’s costly.

There are currently 1,051 teachers in the Warwick School Department. Out of those teachers, 865 – or 82 percent of the department – rank in the top three “steps”.

All things considered, those highest paid teachers earned an average of $75,400 last year – according to Rosemary Healey, the school department’s Director of Compliance. That number represents compensation but excludes benefits such as health care and pensions.

Those 865 teachers earned a combined pay of $65,220,792.36. The school department’s total budget this fiscal year, which runs from July 1 until June 30 of this year, is just under $170 million.

The number includes a teacher’s base pay, longevity, and stipends paid to teachers for having attained various educational achievements – including a Master’s Degree or Doctorate, or advanced certifications.

The state requires districts to include step increases, which amount to raises for teachers, in their contracts. Step increases are intended to reflect experience. Teachers in Warwick receive step increases each year from their first through tenth years.

A first year teacher is a step one teacher. A second year teacher would be a step 2 teacher, and so on and so forth until a teacher reaches his or her tenth year. A teacher with 11 years experience is considered a tenth step teacher.

When the school committee agrees to add a cost-of-living allowance – or as some would say, raises – it increases those step increases by a certain percentage.

Very few rookies

The Warwick School Department has just 26 teachers in steps 1 and 2 – almost 2.5 percent – of the whole department. A step 1 teacher will earn $39,429 this year. A step 2 teacher will earn $43, 481 this year.

School Committee member Patrick Maloney, who was elected last year and wasn’t a member when the current contract was agreed upon, said he thought the pay scale escalated quickly.

“I try to think of things in terms of the private sector, and I don’t know anyone in private industry who starts out at almost $40,000 per year and nearly doubles their salary in ten years,” said Maloney when contacted yesterday.

“Financially, we can’t sustain things at the level they’re at.”

Longevity represents payments to teacher’s that have already reached step 10. After 20 years, a step 10 teacher in Warwick is eligible for a “longevity” increase of $1,950 this contract year. A teacher with 25 years of service received an increase of $2,215. A teacher with 30 years experience received an increase of $2,480.

“We have laid off so many people in the last 4 years that we don’t have that many junior people anymore,” said Healey.

“We’re always going to have some, but not as many that would be economical. Ideally, you would like to have a fairly even breakdown.”

The reason, Healey said, is because the department’s been forced to layoff teachers over the last several years – even despite the fact that the city, with the exception of last year, had allocated the maximum amount by law the three years prior.

When the district lays off teachers, it’s teachers with the least seniority that aren’t called back after re-applying for their positions at the yearly job fair. It’s a curious system, because the teachers who get laid off are those who make the least amount of money. In that respect, the layoffs aren’t as cost effective as possible.

But Deborah Gist, Rhode Island’s Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, has effectively sought to bring the practice of hiring teachers based entirely on seniority to a halt. Gist issued a directive last fall asking the districts to cease hiring based on seniority alone. Gist argued that hiring based solely on seniority wasn’t in the best interest of the students.

Maloney said he’d like to see more new teachers entering school systems not only in Warwick, but throughout the state. Maloney said he’s familiar with several examples of highly qualified prospective teachers being forced to leave the state because there were no open positions.

“I’d like to see more of a balance…It’s a sad thing that we can’t give new teachers a chance to use their skills to provide a quality education for our teachers,” said Maloney.

But James Ginolfi, President of the Warwick Teacher’s Union, said that hiring based on seniority is the only fair way to hire and re-hire teachers.

“You need to have a neutral way to judge the experience of a teacher,” said Ginolfi. “Would you rather have a doctor with one year of experience perform an operation on you, or one who had ten years of experience?”

Ginolfi fears that without seniority based hiring, it will become overly political, and hurt students in the end.

Ginolfi also argued that Warwick taxpayers are getting a good deal with respect to the teacher contract.

“When you look at all of the education…and professional development teachers are required to receive, I think (teacher compensation levels) are well worth it, and beyond a doubt justified,” said Ginolfi.

With respect to the actual teacher pay, Healey agrees.

“You’re never going to hear me say teachers are over-paid. They’re required to maintain a high level of academic rigor to get their academic certificate and to maintain it,” said Healey.

“Teaching is a very important responsibility.”

School Committee Chairman Chris Friel, when contacted yesterday, said he couldn’t categorically say whether or not teachers pay was costly.

“I’d have to take a look at the individual teacher in order to garner what they’re worth. Some teachers are worth every penny. Some may not be,” said Friel.

“It speaks to the need for an effective evaluation instrument.”

Friel pointed out that in recent years, the school administration has been reduced at a higher per capita level than the teacher’s union and Warwick School Independent Employees union.

Race to mid-management?

Healey didn’t have the number of teachers that make more than $100,000 available, but said that in some cases, school department heads made over that amount last year.

A common complaint against school departments across the state are that they spend too much money – money that could be better spent in the classrooms. But Healey said that some department heads make less money, and work 191 days instead of the 260 worked by administrators. Thus, there’s an incentive not to become an administrator, Healey said.

“You don’t want to have an organization where your best and brightest decline to take leadership positions,” said Healey.

“I’m very concerned about that.”