Teacher raises in jeopardy

State lawmakers moved Tuesday to ban local governments from hiring lobbyists, allow cities and counties to cut the cost of some state-mandated programs, and end raises for new state National Board-certified teachers.

Tuesday’s debate – the first day of deliberations on next year’s $6.5 billion general fund budget – was dominated by questions of how to pay for public education and local government services.

But today’s House Ways and Means Committee meeting promises to focus on state workers, with Democrats saying they will insist on at least a 2 percent pay raise for state employees.

“I am confident state employees will receive a raise,” state Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said in an interview, adding Democrats likely would “settle for” a 2 percent raise. “It’s been four or five years since state employees have gotten a raise. With what we are doing with (changing their) retirement package, I certainly think we should be trying to increase their pay.”

State Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Berkeley, said there is “tremendous support” for giving state employees a raise – but only if the money is there.

“Last I checked, (Democrats) were not in the majority,” said Merrill, who will lead the subcommittee that will take up the issue of state worker raises. “We still have to be cognizant of other needs to state government, and we also have to be cognizant of the private sector and the fact that not a lot of them have received much by way of raises, so we are going to try to be fair.”

Members of the Ways and Means Committee met all day Tuesday to begin forming the state’s $6.5 billion general fund budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The state’s total budget, which includes federal dollars and fees, is much larger – close to $22 billion. But Tuesday, lawmakers were focused on the portion of the budget that comes mostly from state income and sales taxes.

Earning a National Board certificate is a rigorous process that can take between one and three years to complete. As a reward, state taxpayers had been giving more money to teachers who are National Board-certified – paying out a total of $68.5 million this year, according to Jay Ragley, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.

But lawmakers say they have not seen a corresponding increase in student test scores to justify the pay increases. The plan, approved by the budget committee Tuesday, would stop paying salary supplements for new applicants to the program. It would not affect teachers who already have their certificates or are in the process of earning them now. And it would not stop local school districts from raising the pay of its certified teachers.

“This rewards some teachers while many other teachers who perform very well are being hindered by it,” said state Rep. Kenny Bingham, R-Lexington. “More money is going into National Board program to keep up with the growth of the program, and when that happens that means other teachers are losing out.”

Because money for the National Board program is in a budget proviso, or a temporary law, the program would be suspended for one year. But Bingham said that suspension would clear the way for the state to move toward merit-based pay for teachers, a political land mine.

“It’s a impossible conundrum at times to move through to figure out exactly how do you reward those teachers who are doing well and who determines what well is,” Bingham said.

Ragley, the Education Department spokesman, said the department requested ending the salary supplement because “the research on National Board certification has pretty much shown it doesn’t seem to have an impact on student outcomes on student learning.”

But Libby Ortmann, president of the Palmetto Teachers Association, defended the program, saying a National Board-certified teacher is committed to growing in his or her profession – a commitment made easier with a financial incentive.

“States that continue to offer the stipend ... those are the places that show they value the growth of a professional in their work,” she said. “Teachers’ growth and student growth go hand in hand – or they don’t grow at all.”

Other items approved Tuesday include:

Allowing local governments to cut the cost of some state-mandated programs. This came after lawmakers voted to not fully fund the amount of money the state is required by law to send to local governments, money that goes to support some of the programs that now will be cut. Court-related programs, including solicitors and public defenders’ offices, will be excluded from local cuts.

• Banning local governments from hiring lobbyists. “It is awful to ask taxpayers to fund lobbying activities,” Merrill said. “It is sickening.” The proposal passed, 15-7.

• A sales tax holiday for guns the weekend after Thanksgiving. The exemption would not apply to ammunition or other gun accessories.

• Establishing a fund to pay part of the cost of deepening Charleston’s port, a move applauded by the State Ports Authority.

The proposals will go to the full House of Representatives next month. From there, they go to the state Senate and Gov. Nikki Haley before they can become law.