A wealthy school district asks: How much is too much?

Teacher contract up for vote this week.
Jessica T. Lee:

n Hanover, where public school teachers are already the highest paid in the state, voters this week will decide whether a proposed teachers' contract is too generous, as some residents contend, or appropriate for the affluent school district.
People on both sides of the issue ask that voters compare the school district's $59,236 average teacher salary to the salaries of others.

Opponents of the contract, which includes the majority of the school district's finance committee, point out that the pay is 35 percent higher than the state average of $43,941. The finance committee has long noted a "premium" that residents pay for education, and is asking for evidence students are receiving an education proportional to that premium.

Teachers point to a different comparison: $70,877, the median household income in Hanover and Norwich, Vt., is 20 percent higher than last year's average teacher salary. Teachers said they are asking for salaries comparable to those in the schools' community.

"People can point to our salaries, and make claims or ask, 'Is it really worth it?'" said Pamala Miller, president of the Hanover Education Association, the teachers' union. "I would ask the parents in the community that question, and I guess we'll get the answer with the vote."

The debate comes as the Concord School Board and the local teachers' union are struggling to reach their own three-year contract; both salaries and health insurance are n disput

Posted by James Zellmer at March 8, 2006 5:01 PM
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