Educators to receive salary bump

DATABASE: Prince William County School Employee Salary Database

Editor's note: In connection with the News & Messenger's coverage of the fiscal and economic challenges faced by local governments and their taxpayers, this is the second installment of an occasional series examining the salaries of public employees.

The top 10 salary earners in the Prince William County Schools system have each seen their annual pay increase between $14,000 and $20,000 in the past three years, according to data received from a Freedom of Information Act request weeks ago.

Superintendent Steven L. Walts earned a base salary of $228,115 in fiscal 2007, the FOIA information shows. A year later, his base pay rose to $239,293. And his current salary for fiscal 2009 is $248,865.

Deputy superintendent Roystene "Rae" Darlington, meanwhile, drew a salary of $157,546 in fiscal 2007, but saw that figure climb to $173,383 two years later.

Rounding out the top 10 highest paid school employees are the eight associate superintendents—Catherine Puttre, Diana Lambert-Aikens, Michael Mulgrew, Alison Nourse-Miller, David Cline, Keith Johnson, Roger Erickson and Keith Imon. All currently earn the same, $157,621. In fiscal 2007, all these positions paid $143,223, though some of the names have changed. George Kisha, for instance, was the associate superintendent for finance and support in 2007 and 2008, but has since been replaced by David Cline.

The listed salaries are due to change in the coming weeks. Following last-minute receipt of federal stimulus funds, the School Board voted earlier this year to approve a 2.9 percent cost-of-living-adjustment for all employees—board members excepted. That means, come July, Walts will see his base pay jump to $256,082; Darlington, to $178,411; and the eight associates, to $162,192.

Teachers, administrators and staff will receive the pay boost, too.

For fiscal 2009, the starting base salary for teachers who have a bachelor's degree but no experience is $42,863, according to figures from Ken Blackstone, director of communications for the school system. Those who have earned a master's degree are paid a minimum teaching salary of $47,971, according to the figures. The base salary for those two categories will jump to $44,106 and $49,362, respectively, under the COLA.

And the average salary for all teachers in Prince William County? That's currently $59,972, according to the figures from Blackstone.

The COLA is not a one-time increase that disappears in the school's five-year budget plan, Blackstone said.

"The COLA factors in to the overall salary and becomes the new baseline for the next year, so it is not a 'one-time deal' in that sense," he said.

A Jan. 12, 2009, Virginia Department of Education comparison report of 2007-08 teacher salaries finds the commonwealth ranks 30th of the 50 states plus Washington, in terms of average pay. Virginia teachers were paid an average of $46,796 during this time. California teachers earned the most, with an average base salary of $64,424 and South Dakota teachers, the least, at $36,674.

In a comparative study of all Virginia school systems, the DOE reported the average fiscal 2008 pay for teachers in Prince William at $59,656. In Stafford County, teachers were paid on average $52,251 for that fiscal year. In Fairfax County, that number was at $62,458. For Loudoun County, it was $57,518. And for Fauquier, it was $55,179.

The Virginia DOE report did not address superintendent salaries. But a Web site search for an average among Virginia school systems revealed superintendents earning $60,000 are considered in the 25th percentile for pay for this job, while those who earn $90,000 are in the 75th percentile, according to iHireSchoolAdminstrators.com. The median, meanwhile, is $75,000, according to this Web site's May updates.

Prince William is the third largest school system in Virginia, with nearly 10,000 employees.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.