Nashville’s Teacher Retention Woes Trigger Call For More Salary, Less Retirement

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce focused much of its annual report card on teacher retention and recruitment in Metro Schools. One novel suggestion would let new teachers increase their salary in lieu of other benefits.

More than 800 teachers leave the district every year, and half of them are considered effective or highly effective.

“We have to remember that not all attrition is bad,” interim superintendent Chris Henson said Tuesday at the report card’s release. “We should expect to find dissatisfaction from low-performing teachers or those that realize teaching is not for them. But what’s concerning to me is the teachers we lose who are top performers.”

Low pay is not a top reason cited by those who move on, but many say a higher salary would help. Report card co-chair Rob Elliott says incoming teachers should be able to opt out of the state pension system and add that money to their take-home pay.

Teacher pensions in Tennessee are managed by the state, which might have to make changes to open up this option.

“While this is being explored, MNPS should look at the types of locally-determined benefits packages it offers teachers. The goal, again, would be to identify savings and return those savings to teacher’s paychecks,” Elliott said.

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The full 2015 report card from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

All of the recommendations stem from interviews with teachers and administrators. The committee found that it could boost recruiting to make sure new teachers understand the value of a defined-benefit plan, because many don’t understand what they already have.

Educators fresh out of college don’t seem to care about pensions as previous generations did, Henson said in response.

“They’re more interested in what is my salary,” he said, “Not necessarily interested in what retirement benefit I may receive after doing the job for 30 years.”

However it’s done, the Nashville Chamber is recommending a considerable increase to starting salaries, in part to attract a more diverse pool. Right now, most teachers coming out of Tennessee colleges are white, and Metro does most of its recruiting in the state. At this point, three out of four Metro teachers are white while most students are not.

Business leaders believe the city needs to vie for talent nationally. But that’s hard when Chicago and Houston pay $10,000 more and have more built-in raises. Nashville’s starting salary of $41,200 doesn’t go up until after five years on the job.