The Howard County school board unanimously approved yesterday higher pay for first-time teachers - the third such increase in as many years - and said it would work in the next year to make starting salaries for teachers more competitive.
The board also adopted an operating budget for the 2006 fiscal year that exceeds half a billion dollars for the first time and a $86.5 million spending plan for school construction.
The annual salary for beginning teachers will be $37,653 beginning July 1. However, Howard County's ranking in Maryland likely will drop by one place - to eighth - because other school systems are expected to raise their starting salaries. Howard's chief competitor, Montgomery County, is expected to have the highest salary at $40,542.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in Friday's edition incorrectly reported that Joe Staub, president of the Howard County Education Association, said salaries for Howard County teachers with more than five years of experience are on a par with pay for Montgomery County teachers.
In fact, salaries for veteran Howard County teachers lag behind Montgomery County's pay.
The Sun regrets the error.
The disparity of nearly $3,000 bothered Howard County Board of Education Chairman Courtney Watson, who said board members should focus on the issue in the next nine months.
"I see the $3,000 difference between us and Montgomery as a big deal," she said.
During negotiations over the winter, the board and union officials agreed to a provision in the new two-year contract that would give the board authority to reconfigure the starting salary if money became available.
School and union officials estimated that the school system would need an additional $800,000 to move Howard County to second place, closing the gap with the Montgomery County school system.
"We want to attract the best new teachers," said Joe Staub, president of the Howard County Education Association, who noted that the salaries for Howard County teachers with more than five years of experience is on a par with the pay of Montgomery County teachers.
Watson said the school board could not provide $800,000 while cutting $8.4 million from its operating budget to make up for a funding shortfall.
The operating budget of $504 million is a 9 percent increase from this year's $461 million budget. Highlights include textbook purchases, expansion of full-day kindergarten to 12 more schools, for a total of 19, and the addition of about 200 teachers and positions.
The bulk of the increase will pay for a 3 percent raise for the school system's 5,600 teachers, instructional assistants, psychologists and other support personnel, as called for under the contract.
The capital budget includes money for a northwestern and a western elementary school, a replacement building for Bushy Park Elementary School, renovations at Howard High School and a 400-seat addition at Glenelg High School.
This year's budget process was relatively free of controversy. The school board received more money for the operating budget from County Executive James N. Robey and almost all of its request for the capital budget.
To trim $8.4 million from its operating budget, the school board transferred $2.7 million to the capital budget.
The school board also cut $2.7 million from the capital budget, including deferring some funds to fiscal 2007 for two school projects and other renovations.
"It was the smoothest budget process I've seen since I've been on the board," said Watson, although she expressed fiscal concerns about next year.
