Salary and Benefits
HISTORY
The TFS "step salary" scale reflects education, degrees earned, and years of teaching experience for all Lead Teachers. Without a step-salary scale that sets a standard to follow, other pay increase schemes -- such as inflation + 2%, merit pay, across-the-board percentage increases -- tend to create wide variations in school salary increases from year to year and from one individual staff member to another. Additionally, if new staff are hired at higher rates in a competitive external marketplace than staff who have made a long-term commitment to TFS, pre-existing pay inequalities can be compounded.
The move in 2006-07 to a step salary scale for TFS created a pay scale on which the School could base – and Faculty could anticipate -- future pay increases intended to keep TFS competitive in attracting and retaining increasingly experienced and skilled Faculty and Staff through sound financial planning. The 2008-09 academic year was marked by a number of salary “adjustments” to bring even-handedness to the pay scale. In 2007-08, pay increases on a percentage basis were generally higher in the first two groups (0 to 10 years of experience) than in the last two groups (21 to 30 years of experience), as less “adjustment” was needed in the upper income categories to bring the TFS scale closer to the 95th percentile than was needed in the lower income categories to do so.
REFLECTIONS
TFS has a step-salary scale which seeks to establish a salary base on which to plan and build prudent and competitive future salary increases. It is intended to allow TFS to establish clear objectives, both short and long term, for strong Faculty and Staff compensation.
In 2008-09 salaries for beginning teachers start at $27,750 and grow to $46,500 at 30 years of experience. This starting base is 3.7% above the 2007-08 starting salary. The median TFS salary at 25 years experience ($42,500) is just above the Diocesan median (95th percentile) of $42,264.
To attract and hold capable Instructional Teaching Assistants and to continue to reflect better their work, their role in the classroom, and the esteem in which they are held, hourly rates for Instructional Teaching Assistants will range from $11 to $12.25 an hour in 2008-09. Pay for substitute teachers will rise to $10 per hour.
