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District analysis: raising basic allotment to $7,005 could fund $4,000 teacher raises, presenters say
Summary
Board presenters showed calculations indicating that raising the state's basic allotment to about $7,005 per student could generate enough compensation allotment to fund a $4,000 raise for classroom staff locally, while warning statewide costs run into the billions.
District leaders told trustees an increase in the state's basic allotment would be the most durable way to fund teacher raises and to restore the district's buying power eroded by inflation. Presenter Byron walked trustees through a calculation showing that if the basic allotment rose from $6,160 to approximately $7,005, the district would gain sufficient compensation funding to cover a $4,000 raise for classroom teachers, librarians and counselors.
Byron described the math as: "if we take a $4,000 raise and we've got approximately 7,700 teachers, librarians and counselors, and so that would be $2,800,000 that we would need in order to give all those people raises of of $4,000...so if they just got us to 7,005, we could give every teacher a raise and we would have some in order to give everybody else raises." He cautioned that a full restoration of pre‑inflation funding would cost the state far more—figures cited in the presentation put statewide costs in the tens of billions—so the district and its legislative partners plan to advocate for a realistic interim increase.
Trustees discussed tradeoffs, noting a modest allotment increase could cover teacher raises but leave little flexibility for other needs; Byron emphasized that using the basic allotment to fund raises is preferable to a one‑time teacher raise allotment, which could disappear in a future budget cycle.
