State Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Teacher Pay

The Indiana Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding collective bargaining between teachers and school districts. (Photo Credit: Brian Turner/Flickr)

The Indiana Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in a case addressing teacher pay and collective bargaining from Jay County School Corporation in Portland.

That case addresses two issues having to do with collective bargaining of teacher salaries. First, it asks if superintendents should have discretion on setting the salary for a teacher that is hired after the start of the school year. Second, it asks whether a teacher who takes on extra work outside her his/her bargained job duties should get extra pay.

The trial court that first heard the case sided with the school corporation, then the appeals court sided with the teacher’s union. The state Supreme Court will now make a final decision on the issue.

Principal Discretion On Salaries

Eric Hylton argued for the teacher’s union, the Jay Classroom Teacher Association, and started his oral argument addressing the issue of principal discretion with setting teacher salaries. He argued that if a teacher is hired after the start of the school year, the principal should not have complete discretion in setting that teacher’s salary. He said the union should still negotiate that salary with the school district.

The union is arguing that there should be tight parameters for a new teacher, like years of experience, that determine salary. The school corporation and The Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (IEERB) say a superintendent should be able to set the salary as long as it is within an already set range.

The lawyer for IEERB, Sarah Cudahy, said this is already not permitted in law. She says that a school superintendent already determines salaries within a pay scale determined through collective bargaining.

The Appeals Court sided with Hylton, saying it is clear in state law that all salaries need to be collectively bargained. The school corporation is arguing for the Supreme Court to rule the other way.

“It’s important for the court to understand this is a teacher friendly process and it’s in the public’s best interest,” said Marcia Mahoney, a lawyer for the school district.

Additional Pay

The second part of the case looks at additional pay for additional duties and asks if that should be part of collective bargaining agreements.

Hylton, representing the union, gave an example during his oral arguments.

“We had a situation where both parties had a provision in their last best offers that basically said, a teacher goes home sick, another teacher agrees to cover their class during their prep period because we can’t find a substitute, let’s pay that teacher $15 or $20,” Hylton said.

The IEERB found this is double pay and therefore not bargainable. The question here is do extra duties count if they’re completed during the day? The Appeals Court said yes. But that is what the Supreme Court will consider when making their ruling.

The Appeals Court ruled in favor of the union, saying teachers can negotiate extra money for duties they do during the school day outside of their assigned roles, like covering another teacher’s class. IEERB argues getting extra pay for duties completed during the school day is considered double pay.

The Supreme Court did not say when they expect to issue a ruling on the case.