Reimagining Day School Faculty Compensation

By Dr. Harry Bloom, Founder and President, Benchmarking for Good

After five years of conducting faculty climate surveys in day schools, two key themes have emerged for me. One, that compensation is not at the top of the list of important factors for the significant majority of teachers, but it is still very important to 2/3 of faculty. The second is that many faculty members are dissatisfied with how they are compensated—with the Covid pandemic having likely increased this dissatisfaction. And, given how salaries are set in many schools, the dissatisfaction is justified. So, while compensation is not at the top of teachers’ priority list, the sense of unfairness its implementation engenders in faculty members is a negative force that undermines enthusiasm, advocacy and employment continuity for the profession. Later in this article I will make some suggestions that I believe could help alleviate this undesirable situation.  

 Some Facts Drawn from the Research

Just over half of the more than a thousand faculty members I have surveyed over a five year period of time reported being satisfied (of these only 15% were very satisfied) with the competitiveness of their salaries. And written comments in the surveys provide a sense of why the other half are dissatisfied:

“As a teacher with multiple degrees and a passion for education, it seems unfair to struggle to afford necessities like food and housing. I love the school because of the fantastic students and colleagues; however, it is hard to obtain a healthy work/life balance or provide my students with a top-tier education when I can't afford to eat lunch and have to work extra shifts elsewhere.”

“Although the school may offer a competitive salary to some employees, there is a lack of equity in that each employee needs to “fend for themselves” and to push to make sure they earn what they are worth.”

“Years of employment in school do not lead to a higher salary, additional degrees  do not lead to a higher salary.  There is no scale and no transparency. Performance is not rewarded in compensation and it seems that the only possible way for there to be growth in salary is by procuring a higher salary at another institution and hoping it will be matched.”

“There has been a lot of talk about inexperienced/non-credentialed people coming on as teachers who make significantly more than teachers who already work for the school/have been here for years. It is very demoralizing, causes intense strife, and damages relationships with administration. Add to that the fact that yearly salary adjustments do not account for inflation, we make less money year over year.”

Board Members Bear Some of the Responsibility

While there is an intense and understandable focus by volunteer Board members on making schools affordable for parents, including the wealthy, this has been achieved through a reluctance to increase tuition in order to fund higher salaries and to faculty compensation systems at most schools which focus on minimizing raises. Salary increases are rationed and increases go disproportionately to faculty members who have the temerity to request them, and less so to faculty members who are uncomfortable with a negotiating process they are uncomfortable engaging in.

Enlightened School Administrators Are Recognizing the Lack of Sustainability in Current Practices

Enlightened Heads of School are increasingly recognizing the reality that any faculty compensation system that does not lead to their schools being a destination of choice for the best faculty members–particularly in a very competitive employment market– is ultimately dysfunctional. It is likely to result in decreased quality, lower perceived value, reduced enrollment and employee turnover.  In short, a race to the bottom. 

Some Key Questions to Ponder:

• Do current compensation practices result in the “best and brightest” wanting to be educators in our school? 

• Has the pendulum perhaps swung too far toward affordability concerns versus to concerns related to employee satisfaction and continuity? 

• Should the value of having day schools becoming employers of choice receive more strategic and operational attention? 

Here are Some Suggestions to Help Ensure Our Schools are Magnets for the Best Educators

School leaders need to increase the transparency of salary setting by

• Disclosing the share of the school budget that faculty salaries comprise and making sure it is a defensible percentage relative to its importance.

• Enumerating those performance factors that are valued and will result in higher compensation. If years of experience is valued, say so and reflect that in compensation. If advanced degrees or certifications are valued, say so and reflect that in compensation. Etcetera. 

• Taking necessary steps to ensure salaries at a minimum keep up with inflation.

• Being honest about the need to pay more for teachers who possess scarce skills. 

In Conclusion: 

The Faculty compensation systems in many day schools are inequitable and inadequate and undermine trust and satisfaction. If school leaders truly “walk the walk” in pursuing equity and justice and a system that will attract the caliber of faculty our children deserve, faculty compensation systems should better reflect these values. Straight talk with parents about the need to balance faculty quality and morale is needed and will be understood by those with an open mind.

Day Schools can and should do better to avoid Faculty burnout and discouraging quality faculty members from joining our schools. 

We can and need to do better. 

To learn how to become more knowledgeable about making your school a destination of choice for faculty please contact Dr. Harry Bloom at harrybloom@benchmarkingforgood.org

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