To the Editor:
In your Jan. 28, 2009, article “School Leaders Target Salary Reform Toward Newer Teachers,” the National Education Association is identified as favoring shorter salary schedules as a method for improving compensation for new teachers and teachers overall. This certainly is a valid proposal. Most salary schedules are a tall mountain to climb from entry-level to maximum pay. Many teachers can’t wait out a stretched-out schedule, and leave the profession far too early.
In Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Education Association, the statewide NEA affiliate, has taken the opposite tack. Through the union’s extensive lobbying, the state salary schedule was raised from 15 to 25 steps. Now that the system has been in place for roughly two decades, the OEA is lobbying for an extension to 30 steps. The mountain just keeps on getting taller.
Michael Barlow
Barlow Education Management Services LLC
Oklahoma City, Okla.
