Despite generally good salaries, an 85% faculty majority is said to favor unionizing
Whether to join a teacher union is being pondered at Ben Franklin, the city's most academically acclaimed public high school.
With a public hearing scheduled Thursday on the faculty drive to unionize Benjamin Franklin High School, salaries are sure to be a salient concern — in particular discrepancies in pay among staff with seemingly similar backgrounds.
The discrepancies occur because, though Franklin publishes a pay scale, salaries are subject to one-on-one negotiation that hinges on more than degrees and seniority. All told, about 60 percent of Franklin’s faculty draw salaries that depart from the scale — some higher, some lower.
Charter schools, by law, are free from many of the rules that bind traditional public schools, including rules about hiring and compensation. While traditional schools typically adhere to a preset pay scale, Franklin’s chief executive, Timothy Rusnak, can negotiate adjusted pay packages. That lets him offer competitive bids for teachers, including personnel with specialized degrees or training in a subject area, Rusnak said.
Tweaking official pay scales is common practice among charters and private schools, according to Bryan Hassel, co-director of the North Carolina-based education policy firm Public Impact.
“Many charter schools use that flexibility to win over a recruit, or to keep someone who’s got an offer somewhere else. So it’s a very commonly used flexibility,” said Hassel, who has researched charter school hiring practices. That said, Hassel believes school leaders should tell teachers what the rules are, up-front.
While the consensus among Franklin teachers seems to be that Rusnak has the right to set salaries, some faculty members have contended that the advertised salary schedule is misleading.
About 40 percent of Franklin’s 44 teachers are paid in line with the pay scale, according to compensation and qualifications information made available to The Lens. Of the 28 teachers whose salaries depart from the scale, 15 are paid higher than scale, while 13 get lower salaries.
In compiling a statistical overview of Franklin’s salaries, The Lens didn’t count part-time teachers or those who have administrative roles outside the classroom.
“We want equality in the way that people are paid, and to have it not be based on arbitrary decisions or favoritism,” said Greg Swanson, a 12-year English teacher.
Franklin has long been well-regarded; it’s the city’s highest performing high school and it repeatedly ranks among the best high schools in the state and nation. It’s also a magnet for veteran teachers. More than half the faculty has 10 or more years of public-school experience, according to Franklin records. Other teachers may have additional years of experience as instructors in colleges or private secondary schools.
HOW FACULTY SALARIES ARE SET
Rusnak, who made close to $172,000 this year, said he retains a pay scale because longtime public-school teachers expect one as they contemplate applying for jobs at Franklin. It’s a starting point for negotiations, he said – not something set in stone. And he Despite generally good salaries, an 85% faculty majority is said to favor unionizing | The Lens:
