Fact vs. Fiction: Avon Teachers Are Overpaid

“Avon teachers are overpaid. Did you see they got a 52% pay increase?”

Don’t believe the chatter. It doesn’t provide the full story. Because of the voter-approved 2018 Operating Referendum, Avon’s teachers are now paid more competitively, although they’re still not the best paid teachers around.

There is a national teacher shortage and the #1 factor that impacts student learning is a great teacher in the classroom.

The sad fact is that for far too long, Avon’s teachers were grossly underpaid. Teacher increases neither kept pace with increases in cost of living nor the pay other school districts were able to provide. Following the 2011 failed referendum, teachers got no raises; they got a $200 stipend. The next year wasn’t much better. They got $384 raises. At the same time, they were coping with ever-increasing class sizes.

Of similarly-sized school corporations in our market comparison, Avon’s most experienced teacher pay ranked at the bottom – eighth out of eight. Beginning teachers weren’t doing much better. Their pay was ranked seventh out of eight.

According to the district’s Referendum Progress Report, which it has updated yearly since 2018, over the last seven years, Avon Schools has gradually increased:

• beginning teacher salaries by 30%,

• mid-career teacher salaries by 52%, and

• top teacher pay by 23%.

None of these raises were extravagant. All were necessary. They helped Avon dig out of the hole they were in and to stop the drain of teachers leaving for higher paying jobs with lower class sizes. Taken together, these raises have made Avon Schools competitive in the market so they can recruit and retain the best and brightest educators.

Out of the eight school districts in our market comparison, Avon Schools now ranks 2nd in beginning teacher pay and 6th in most experienced teacher pay. Mid-career teachers have seen significant pay increases since 2018 to dig our way out of years of inadequate salary increases following the 2011 failed referendum.

There is a national teacher shortage and the #1 factor that impacts student learning is a great teacher in the classroom. The Referendum has helped Avon Schools make great progress by increasing teacher pay to a more competitive level.