CHEYENNE, Wyo.
Recent pay raises for K-12 teachers in Wyoming are making it tough for the state’s community colleges to attract new faculty, officials say. A legislative committee has agreed to look into the issue of college funding.
Jim Rose, executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission, addressed the Legislature’s Joint Education Interim Committee on Friday. Rose said he wasn’t disparaging recent pay raises for K-12 teachers. However, he said, “There is a concern, frankly, now that we have lost ground in the ability of the colleges to hire faculty.”
Rose said the salary for a beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree in Campbell County School District 1 is $9,000 higher than that paid to a faculty member with a master’s degree at Sheridan College.
“The consequences of that has been that at some of the colleges, we’re losing faculty,” he said.
An increase in funding by the Legislature earlier this year has allowed the state’s school districts to sharply increase teacher pay. According to information from 41 of Wyoming’s 48 districts this month, districts have boosted starting salaries by an average of $6,700.
Barb VanMatre, superintendent of Sweetwater County School District No. 2, said that for the first time her district is offering a starting salary above $40,000. She said the district was able to hire more than 20 new teachers.
