ACPS Aims to Increase Teacher Retention with Proposed Salary Increase

ACPS is recommending an increase in teacher salaries this coming summer in an effort to attract and then keep the best teachers in the D.C. metro area.

ACPS is committed to not only recruiting the best teachers but also growing them to be our next generation of educational leaders. Retaining great teachers leads to better outcomes for students. We need exemplary teachers at the head of every classroom in order to see every student succeed.

While starting salaries for new ACPS teachers are locally competitive, salaries for experienced teachers fall short. Over time, teachers reach the top of the salary scales sooner, making salaries less competitive as they advance in their careers. Offering competitive salaries at all levels that attract high-caliber teachers and then keep them is essential.

Today, teachers come to ACPS early in their careers and gain experience and grow professionally, but then often leave to go to other school divisions where long-term experience is rewarded with higher salaries than we currently pay. Our goal is to keep our teachers, invest in them and grow them to become the future leaders of the school division.

The proposal includes a step increase along with a market rate adjustment to make ACPS salaries more competitive with school divisions across the D.C. metro region. At a time when the City’s funds are also tight, ACPS is exploring adjustments to staff health plan designs that would provide more cost-effective options and more choices for staff as a way to fund the proposal.

Although ACPS currently offers lower salaries than other school divisions in the D.C. metro region, we offer our employees a top-of-the line “platinum plus” benefits package that is better than many of the benefit packages offered by other school divisions across the region.

To support the higher salaries, ACPS is exploring plan designs including an option that provides staff more flexibility in controlling their health care costs. Staff would have more options in choosing a healthcare plan based on their own health care needs and those of their family, which can have a direct impact on their take-home pay.

The proposal was discussed at the School Board Work Session on November 13 as one of the key considerations for the FY 2020 Combined Funds Budget.

Proposed changes to health plan options and the potential impact will next be presented to the School Board at a work session on January 17.

View the presentation from the November 13 School Board Work Session (PDF)
Watch video of the November 13 School Board Work Session

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ACPS, ACPS 2020, School Board