Fair Compensation in Uncertain Economic Times
Henry Contant, SCSBC Executive Director
February 2009
A challenging and critical issue addressed annually by the SCSBC school community is the matter of compensation. School boards desire to both keep Christian education affordable for parents and make certain that they attract and retain gifted and committed principals, teachers and support staff. Over the years our SCSBC community has had to shape recommendations for consideration by member schools and their staff balancing those two priorities.
The recently released 2009-10 Compensation Report has been approved by the SCSBC Board and has the full support of the Christian Teachers Association of BC (CTABC) and the Christian Principal's Association of BC (CPABC).
This annual Compensation Report is intended to serve member schools as a guideline for fair compensation. It describes the general landscape and does not necessarily assume that compensation must be the same in every community. The SCSBC Board noted that in the past few years about the same number of member schools exceeded the recommended salary grid as those who were below the grid. That fact may reflect healthy local discretion given the wide disparity in housing and transportation costs throughout the province, and the different debt/equity ratios that exist among our school communities. Yet the majority of our member schools compensate their principals, teachers and support staff according to the recommended guidelines within the report. Factors such as annual core inflation rates, the Conference Board of Canada's Annual Compensation Planning Outlook, salary grids from public and other independent schools, and pension plan and employee benefits are more universal, and this report therefore informs all schools whether they are on, above or below the recommended salary grid.
The report is part of a continuing effort of the SCSBC, CTABC and CPABC to provide for its membership a useful compilation of employment policies and recommended wages and salaries. Its main purpose is to assist member schools and their staff in:
- establishing fair and equitable treatment for all teaching, administrative and support staff.
- providing continuity and uniformity in employment policies and salaries.
- giving experienced teachers incentive to stay in teaching as well as attracting new teachers to the profession.
- giving experienced administrators incentive to stay in administration as well as attracting new administrators to the profession.
- providing a sense of security that builds employee morale and attitudes.
- helping school boards budget adequately, efficiently and on a timely basis.
- The following set of principles taken from the CSI Salary Report has also guided the careful development of the SCSBC Compensation Report. It states that a salary study:
- should be based in large measure on the ability of the Christian school community to pay.
- implies that all Christians should be willing to share financial burdens so that teaching in a Christian school is an attractive professional opportunity for Christian service, reasonable and fair in its financial rewards.
- must conform to provincial and federal laws.
- should reflect requirements for certification and professional improvement.
- should compare salaries in other areas of work.
- should relate to salaries of teachers, administrators and other staff in other schools, both public and independent.
- should consider a change in economic conditions.
Making recommendations that are intended to guide all members of our Christian school community remains a challenging task, particularly during these unprecedented times of economic uncertainty. As Christian/independent schools in BC we remain thankful for the steadily increasing government grant we continue to receive.
I believe the 2009-10 Compensation Report has achieved fairness for all. The words of Micah ask and answer the question essential for living as a people of the Lord. "And what does the Lord require of you?" The answer is, "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). I trust that the Compensation Report will be received in this light and will reflect a community that honors each member of the body.
Henry Contant (contant@twu.ca ) is the Executive Director of SCSBC.
