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Teachers tell Teton County board inflation outpaced raises; union urges prioritizing pay
Summary
A teacher and union leader told the board that cumulative local inflation has eroded pay gains and urged prioritizing raises; trustees and administration said funding complexity and state formulas constrain immediate remedies but flagged $3.2M in estimated ECA funding.
Sam Morgan, a middle school teacher and president of the Teton County Education Association, told trustees during public comment that rising local inflation has left teachers effectively earning less than before the pandemic and urged the board to prioritize salary increases for teachers and support staff.
"These are not normal economic times," Morgan said. "During that time, we had about 10% in raises. Brutal. We're effectively earning less money than we did before COVID in terms of real dollars." He urged the district to prioritize salary and benefit funding, noting that even modest step increases would fail to keep pace with inflation.
Trustees and staff acknowledged the concern but described constraints. Kristen (district staff) walked through the mechanics of state funding, explaining the district’s use of the regional cost adjustment (RCA), the three‑year averaging method in the Wyoming funding model and how the district accounts for increases. Kristen said the recent external cost adjustment (ECA) will add roughly $2.3 million to the district’s budget and repeated an estimate that the state’s ECA could amount to $3.2 million in permanent funding.
Trustees encouraged closer review of the budget and requested that teachers and their representatives review budget documents and proposals to identify funding options. Several trustees said they planned to pursue additional analysis during the finance committee process and to have staff return with more detailed proposals.
The board did not vote on raises at the meeting; trustees said budget work and the upcoming draft budget process would be the venue for considering compensation changes.
