SB 219-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2023 SESSION
23-1023
10/04
SENATE BILL 219-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to a salary floor for public school teachers.
SPONSORS: Sen. Murphy, Dist 16; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Rep. Kofalt, Hills. 32; Rep. Cordelli, Carr. 7; Rep. Cushman, Hills. 28
COMMITTEE: Education
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ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits public school teachers from receiving salaries below a salary floor if the corresponding school administrative unit or school district employs more than one assistant superintendent or employs one or more diversity professional.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-1023
10/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT relative to a salary floor for public school teachers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Legislative Findings. The general court finds that:
I. ? The United States spends far more on education per student than any other nation in the world except Luxembourg. At the same time, the United States lags behind other developed nations in teacher salaries, paying its teachers 75 percent of the salary of German teachers.
II. The United States allocates a greater share of its education spending to non-teaching staff than any other country in the world—nearly double the average among developed nations of 15 percent. In New Hampshire, this problem is particularly severe. While New Hampshire’s average cost-per-pupil is 94 percent of Massachusetts’, our average teacher salary is 77 percent of Massachusetts’. In Massachusetts, a teacher is paid 4 times the cost of one pupil, while in New Hampshire a teacher is paid only 3.4 times the cost of one pupil.
III. The size and wealth of New Hampshire’s education bureaucracy has skyrocketed. Over two decades, New Hampshire’s cost-per-pupil has increased by 77 percent, adjusted for inflation, while our teacher salaries have increased by only 1 percent. In the same period, New Hampshire has increased its non-teaching staff by 80 percent while increasing the number of teachers by only 23 percent. Administrative bloat has had dire implications for teacher pay and quality. In 2021, one New Hampshire high school teacher was hired at a salary of $37,714, less than a starting salary at a nearby Walmart. Meanwhile, New Hampshire superintendents are paid salaries of up to $178,133, while assistant superintendents are paid salaries of up to $136,500. At least 8 school administrative units in New Hampshire employ 2 or more assistant superintendents. Diversity professionals, now employed by both school districts and administrative units, are paid salaries of up to $153,380.
IV. These findings demonstrate that New Hampshire’s education spending is being unnecessarily, systematically, and progressively absorbed by an ever-expanding and privileged bureaucratic class. Unless this is addressed, the statewide problem and continued increases in education spending will fail to affect meaningful improvements in teacher pay and quality. The general court places the interests of students first, it hereby enacts the following rebalancing of teacher and administrator pay in New Hampshire.
2 New Subdivision; Students First Act. Amend RSA 189 by inserting after section 74 the following new subdivision:
Students First Act
189:75 Definitions. In this subdivision:
I. “Cost-per-pupil” refers to the cost-per-pupil within a school district and shall mean the lowest of:
(a) The total expenditures associated with the daily operation of schools divided by the average daily membership in attendance;
(b) Any reasonable and good faith estimate of subparagraph (a); or
(c) An amount determined in good faith by the department of education to correspond to subparagraph (a).
II. “Salary floor” shall mean a salary of not less than 4 times the cost-per-pupil.
III. “Corresponding school district” shall mean the school district which operates the school building in which a teacher principally teaches.
IV. “Corresponding school administrative unit” shall mean the school administrative unit which includes the corresponding school district.
V. “Assistant superintendent” shall mean any official whose role corresponds to that of an assistant superintendent on the date of the passage of this act.
VI. “Diversity professional” shall mean any official whose role corresponds to that of a director or coordinator of diversity, equity, and inclusion, employed by a school administrative unit or school district
on the effective date of this subdivision.
VII. “Diversity professional” shall mean any official whose role corresponds to that of a director or coordinator of diversity, equity, and inclusion, employed by a school administrative unit or school district, on the effective date of this subdivision.
189:76 Prohibition.
I. No public school teacher may be salaried below the salary floor if the corresponding school administrative unit employs more than one assistant superintendent and/or employs one or more diversity professional.
II. No public school teacher may be salaried below the salary floor if the corresponding school district employs one or more diversity professional.
189:77 Civil Remedies.
I. A student in a public school district in which any teacher is salaried in violation of RSA 189:76 may initiate a civil action in superior court against the teacher’s employer for legal or equitable relief, including injunctive relief and reasonable attorney’s fees.
II. The attorney general may initiate a civil action in superior court against the employer of any public school teacher salaried in violation in RSA 189:76 for legal or equitable relief including injunctive relief.
189:78 Severability. If any provision of this subdivision or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the subdivision which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this subdivision are declared to be severable.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage
23-1023
1/18/23
SB 219-FN-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to a salary floor for public school teachers.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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LOCAL: | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | |
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METHODOLOGY:
This bill sets a salary floor for certain districts based on certain criteria. The Department of Education does not have information to estimate this bill’s impact on local school districts, therefore this bill’s impact on local expenditures is indeterminable. This bill is not expected to impact state revenue or expenditures.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Education