Post by title1parent on May 21, 2009 5:31:20 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1583316,Batavia-teacher-pay-au052009.article
Batavia may hike pay for teacher-coaches
May 21, 2009
By DENISE LINKE For The Beacon News
BATAVIA -- Teachers who coach sports teams or academic clubs could get higher stipends in the next few years, as administrators struggle to staff extracurricular programs.
"If you divide the stipend by the number of hours these teachers put in, the hourly rate is miniscule. It's not even minimum wage," noted School Board President Ron Link. "It's not surprising we have trouble replacing coaches who retire."
Board members discussed a proposed policy change that would give district teachers and staff priority over outside experts when filling coaching slots. Some officials would like to put more teachers in charge of coaching after-school activities to strengthen the student-teacher bond.
"The more time teachers spend involved with the kids, the better the kids will respond (in the classroom)," said Batavia High School industrial arts teacher Tony Malay, president of the Batavia Education Association teachers union.
Board members agreed that a skilled outsider, called a "vendor coach," should not be replaced with a bad coach who happens to be a teacher.
"The best coach is not always going to be a teacher," said board member Jayne Resek. "We probably need to look at a variety of criteria."
Board member Kristin Behmer suggested that vendor coaches should meet the same hiring standards as teachers, while Resek said the district should institute a policy that teachers would get hired for coaching jobs over vendor coaches only if their coaching qualifications were the same as the outsiders.
Link proposed raising the stipend in the next teachers contract and starting a mentoring program to help retiring coaches train teachers to take over for them.
"Some of our retired teachers are still coaching teams because they can't bear to let the kids down," he said. "We should encourage younger teachers to become coaches."
Batavia may hike pay for teacher-coaches
May 21, 2009
By DENISE LINKE For The Beacon News
BATAVIA -- Teachers who coach sports teams or academic clubs could get higher stipends in the next few years, as administrators struggle to staff extracurricular programs.
"If you divide the stipend by the number of hours these teachers put in, the hourly rate is miniscule. It's not even minimum wage," noted School Board President Ron Link. "It's not surprising we have trouble replacing coaches who retire."
Board members discussed a proposed policy change that would give district teachers and staff priority over outside experts when filling coaching slots. Some officials would like to put more teachers in charge of coaching after-school activities to strengthen the student-teacher bond.
"The more time teachers spend involved with the kids, the better the kids will respond (in the classroom)," said Batavia High School industrial arts teacher Tony Malay, president of the Batavia Education Association teachers union.
Board members agreed that a skilled outsider, called a "vendor coach," should not be replaced with a bad coach who happens to be a teacher.
"The best coach is not always going to be a teacher," said board member Jayne Resek. "We probably need to look at a variety of criteria."
Board member Kristin Behmer suggested that vendor coaches should meet the same hiring standards as teachers, while Resek said the district should institute a policy that teachers would get hired for coaching jobs over vendor coaches only if their coaching qualifications were the same as the outsiders.
Link proposed raising the stipend in the next teachers contract and starting a mentoring program to help retiring coaches train teachers to take over for them.
"Some of our retired teachers are still coaching teams because they can't bear to let the kids down," he said. "We should encourage younger teachers to become coaches."