Bill would boost Ohio teachers' base salary

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Some Ohio lawmakers are trying to put more money in the pockets of teachers through House Bill 411, introduced by Rep. Joe Miller (D-Amherst).

“This is a genuine way of bringing in quality teachers into the state of Ohio,” he said.

Less than a year ago in the state budget, lawmakers increased the teacher base salary from $30,000 a year to $35,000 a year.

“In the budget, we wanted to see 50 (thousand dollars a year); obviously, they gave some crumbs,” Miller said. “They said a professional who comes out with a four-year degree should only be making $35,000 instead of $50,000.”

“Obviously, it’s not as high as what we want, we think teachers deserve fair pay,” chairman of the House Finance Committee Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) said. “I think teachers should earn an honorable wage, but you also don’t want to take away from the services that a school is providing.”

In HB 411, the base salary for teachers would increase from $35,000 to $50,000.

“For me, $50,000 is on par with a manager at McDonalds,” Miller said. “If you are a capitalist and believe money talks and if you want to increase the supply, then there’s got to be a demand for wanting to go into teaching.”

Miller said he is taking aim at the teacher workforce issue across the state while he said there is a “massive teacher shortage” in Ohio.

“The number of college students that are going into education that are graduating with a teachers license is a lot lower in Ohio,” he said.

Edwards said the bill could result in unintended consequences. He said while he agrees with the basis of the bill and supports teachers being paid fairly, it will be like an unfunded mandate.

“A lot of the money comes from the state already for the schools, but this is just mandating what the schools have to do with it,” he said.

Edwards said a bill like this could mean some schools bear the brunt of the costs.

“They obviously got a lot more money in the fair school funding plan, but this just requires the school district to pay those minimum salaries,” he said. “That means some of these schools that may be struggling already, the poorer schools in my area and other schools in the state, take a hit. They won’t be able to offer maybe some of the afterschool programs or other things because there’s more money going into the teacher salaries.”

Miller said it can be done, but may come in the form of higher taxes.

“I think that right now we just need to continue to fund education properly and if you want your kids to be in front of a qualified teacher, you’re going to have to pay for it. It is what it is.”

“We’ve got a balanced budget and so you got to find that money somewhere,” Edwards said.

Several Democrats have signed on to the bill. Miller said he has already gotten some pushback from other House members, though other Republicans said they agree it is a conversation that needs to be had.

“I have heard a couple going, ‘We didn’t get it in the budget for a reason, good try,’ but I think that conversation still needs to happen,” Miller said.