Good teachers hard to find for current salaries

By PEGGY FIKAC Associated Press

AUSTIN - Joanne Bowers is Plainview High School's science department coordinator and sponsor of the National Honor Society.

She prepares students for University Interscholastic League competition in science and takes her turn at "Saturday school" for students who must make up work. She has a master's degree and 36 years of classroom experience.

Her salary? "Just barely" $40,000 a year, about $9,000 less than the school's head football coach.

The difference is just one example of a widespread salary discrepancy between teachers and coaches, as revealed in 1995-96 records for 4A and 5A school districts analyzed by The Associated Press.

The AP analyzed salaries for coaches, teachers and superintendents in 428 varsity football-playing schools and 238 school districts. The survey, which asked districts for details on coaches' compensation and their average teacher salary, found coaches average $54,000 - about $23,000 more than a typical teacher.

Coaches generally work 32 more days each year than teachers, and they may have additional academic teaching duties. They also can face public wrath and job insecurity when their teams lose.

"I wouldn't want their job. I wouldn't want the pressure of their job," Mrs. Bowers said.

But she said she doesn't believe coaches spend more time on the job than she does, with her workweek of 60 to 70 hours.

"I'm doing good to get four hours sleep a night. Most teachers who do their job will tell you that," Mrs. Bowers said. "Teachers who really teach and do a good job with kids don't have a lot of time for anything else."

While not taking aim at coaches, teachers say higher salaries would help attract and keep good people in their profession.

"It's very difficult to keep good teachers in the classroom, because they leave for better salaries and other jobs," said Richard Golenko, who helped coach the academic decathlon team at Pasadena's J. Frank Dobie High School to two national titles.

A teacher for 26 years, Golenko makes $46,000 annually - $7,754 less than the school's head football coach.

"As I talk to the students I have - and listen to them talk - very, very few of them express an interest in being teachers," said Golenko, a Latin teacher who estimates he spends 75 hours a week on his job.

Richard Kouri, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, lamented the salary figures, saying they show that good teachers are not as valuable to a school district as successful coaches.

"Whether they (coaches) are overpaid or underpaid, the real issue is teachers in Texas should be compensated in a like manner," Kouri said.

"If a good football coach is worth $83,000 a year, what's a good math teacher or English teacher worth? And the answer is $32,000 a year."

John Cole, president of the Texas Federation of Teachers, agreed.

"The lesson here is these are the sorts of salaries we should be paying to get and keep really great teachers," Cole said. "If people want to have successful football teams, we shouldn't say they should pay coaches less. But it certainly points up the priority that we have set."

Teachers say they're not in the job for the money. But they also know colleagues who have had to leave the profession for that reason.

"We've lost some really powerful teachers, and it's a real shame that that's happening," said Carol Wilson, who was named Austin Independent School District's teacher of the year in May.

"But it's understandable, because if you are trying to raise a family, you just can't afford to do it almost."

She makes about $42,000 a year, compared with the average $52,213 paid to coaches in the district.

Luis G. Delgadillo, an educator for more than 40 years, makes $37,435 teaching French and Spanish at Seguin High School. Last year, he was one of the two highest-paid teachers in his district. The head football coach's salary was $54,972.

"I remember my daughter telling me, 'Dad you don't make much money, do you?' " Delgadillo said, recalling when she was in junior high school and he couldn't buy her the latest fashions like those worn by her friends.

"She realized that we were very limited financially, and she gave up the idea of becoming a teacher," Delgadillo said.

Teacher groups have pushed to raise Texas teacher salaries to the national average. In 1994-95, the average U.S. teacher salary was $36,744, while the Texas average was $31,224.

Bridging the gap would cost an estimated $1.1 billion. But Cole said it would be money well-spent.

"One of the things we do extremely well in Texas is coach kids how to play football," he said. "The question to be asked is if we're paying this much for good coaches, and we presume that's what they have to pay to get them, why aren't we paying similar amounts to get good teachers?"