YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Board of Education and Youngstown Education Association’s new, one-year contract secured a 3% wage increase for the union, and while that raise is on par with city school districts statewide, Youngstown teacher salaries are much lower compared with similar Valley districts and those across Ohio.

According to the Ohio Department of Education’s District Profile Report, also known as the Cupp Report, the average salary for Youngstown teachers in fiscal year 2022 — the last full year for which ODE has released data — was $53,292.

That is the lowest average salary of all public school districts in Mahoning County and significantly lower than the statewide average of $69,080. The next closest average teacher salary in Mahoning County is $53,377 at Campbell City Schools and then $54,790 in Jackson-Milton Local Schools.

The Mahoning County school district with the highest average salary for classroom teachers is Canfield Local Schools at $73,642.

Warren City Schools, which is comparable in size and demographic makeup but located in neighboring Trumbull County, pays its classroom teachers an average of $62,782.

According to the State Employment Relations Board’s 2022 Wage Settlement Report, the 3% raise, which brings the average salary to $54,890, is slightly higher than the average for the Youngstown-Warren area for FY 2022 and the projections for city school districts statewide for 2023 (2.55%) and 2024 (2.56%).

That increase represents just under $1,600, slightly above the average one-time lump sum increase for city schools in Ohio, which was $1,259 in FY22.

The state average for wage increases is trending down from 3% in FY 2022 to 2.66% in 2024. Correspondingly, the average lump-sum increase is projected to drop for FY 2023 to $1,080.

The average salary does not necessarily represent what any given teacher actually earns. Teachers are paid on a scale, based on their education and years of teaching experience, which can slightly explain how the district has some of the lowest teacher salaries in the area.

CHEAPER TO HIRE

“They have a lot of young teachers that are cheaper to hire,” said Aaron Churchill, Ohio research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative American nonprofit education policy think tank. “If you’re a district like Youngstown, you need to hold onto young teachers, and make sure they’re growing, and you’re not becoming a feeder district for suburban districts.”

The Cupp Report breaks down compensation levels into three tiers: 0-4 years, 4-10 years, and 10-plus years of experience.

In the final year of YEA’s last three-year contract, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree earned $31,117, while a teacher at the top of the pay scale, with a Ph.D and 27 years of experience, made $78,782. The increase in the new contract means Youngstown City School District now pays the first-year teacher $31,213 and the top-tier teacher $81,145.

Experience levels, however, vary from one district to another.

Youngstown has one of the lowest percentages of teachers with more than 10 years of experience, which is one reason the average salary is so low.

According to the Cupp report, only 41.5% of YEA teachers have more than 10 years of teaching experience, while 39.1% fall in the middle tier, and 19.4% have less than four years of experience.

The average salaries at most other major districts in Mahoning and Trumbull counties range from the low $60,000s to the high $70,000s.

According to the Cupp report, the average salary for teachers in Youngstown’s “similar districts” is about $64,000. Those districts average 53.5% of teachers with 10 or more years experience.

Among surrounding school districts, only Liberty has a lower percentage of teachers at the top tier. The average salary for Liberty schools teachers was $58,753 for FY 2022. In most other districts near Youngstown, at least 52% of teachers have 10 or more years’ experience, and only Campbell City Schools pay an average salary similar to Youngstown’s — teachers there earned an average of $53,377 in FY 2022.

METHODOLOGY

The state’s methodology for determining similar districts was revised in 2019 and reduced the number of metrics from 11 to seven. Those metrics are: enrollment, percentage of population in urban territory as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, population density, median adjusted gross income on tax returns, percentage of economically disadvantaged students enrolled, percentage of adults in the district with a bachelor’s degree, and percentage of ethnic and racial minority enrollment.

Churchill said average salaries are only one indicator, and in many cases, base pay from district to district provides a more complete apples-to-apples comparison.

“If they’re paying lower base salaries compared to suburban districts, it should be no surprise if they’re losing the teachers with more experience, Churchill said.

Youngstown’s base salary is lower than many of the districts that the state recognizes as similar. Base pay in Warren is $37,676. It’s $44,367 in Euclid, $36,653 in Zanesville, $36,588 in Liberty, and $38,121 in Campbell.

He said in many cases, senior teachers comprise the union leadership and negotiating team, so teachers at the bottom of the salary scale are not always well represented in contracts.

“That leaves it up to the district to stick up for young teachers more,” he said. “Schools are competing for talent, and if you have a rigid salary system, it’s not going to work well. It’s hard to do, but if you want to retain teachers early in their careers, it means reforming teacher pay structure. So that’s something the school board needs to look at.”

SIMILAR DISTRICTS

In the Mahoning Valley, Youngstown’s most similar district is Warren. The Cupp Report shows Warren’s average teacher salary was $62,783, but about 68% of Warren teachers have 10 or more years of experience.

In terms of full-time enrollment, the other district closest to Youngstown, besides Warren, is Euclid City Schools in Cuyahoga County. The average salary at that district was roughly $75,690. Euclid’s percentage of teachers with 10-plus years experience also is below 50%.

One possible explanation for Euclid’s higher average salary despite its similar percentage of lower-experienced teachers, is the disparity in administrators between the districts. Youngstown has 92 administrators, seventh most in the state. It’s almost identical to Westerville, which had 92.5 full-time administrators in FY 2022, but most other districts are not close. YCSD comes in behind Akron (153), Cincinnati (233.5), Cleveland (728), Columbus (358), and Dayton (145), as well as Dublin (118). Youngstown paid administrators an average of $80,300 in FY 2022.

Euclid, on the other hand, has only 55 full-time administrators, although it pays them slightly more on average ($88,670). So, Youngstown pays approximately $7.4 million in salary to administration while Euclid pays roughly $4.87 million, a difference of about $2.5 million.

Churchill said urban districts like Youngstown need to balance how many paraprofessionals and support staff they hire and what money that leaves for teacher salaries.

“If the district wants to make teacher retention a priority, they need to make it a priority in the budget,” he said. “So do you want more paraprofessionals or do you want to pay teachers a little more?”

Youngstown’s population density is closest to Zanesville schools. Less than 38% of teachers there have 10 years of experience, but the average salary is still slightly higher than Youngstown’s — $56,998

On the list of similar districts, 11 others show 100% of students deemed economically disadvantaged. Of those, four districts have less than 50% of teachers in the 10-year experience tier — Lima, Middletown, Springfield City, and Warrensville Heights. Springfield and Warrensville have less than 40% of teachers at that top level. Youngstown’s average salary is lower than all of them.

Springfield City teachers earned an average of $62,150, and in Warrensville Heights, it was $56,600.

While Youngstown’s salaries are low by any metric, its salary cost as a percentage of total operating expenses (58.4%) is not out of line with other districts. It’s higher than Zanesville’s (54.6%) and slightly less than Warren’s (59.3%). It’s also on par with local districts with higher tax bases, like Austintown (58.1%) and Boardman (60.9%).

District spokesperson Stacy Quniones also said Youngstown teachers’ health care costs are only 10% of their salary as opposed to the state average of 15%.

“We want to acknowledge how much our educators are valued,” Quinones said. “When decisions are made about wages, many factors influence these discussions, such as budgetary constraints, especially considering the size of our district. YCSD remains committed to finding viable solutions for fair compensation, which reflects the recent 3% wage increase for YEA members. Youngstown City Schools is dedicated to retaining and attracting the best talent to support our scholars.”

FINANCIAL CONDITION

Youngstown is Mahoning County’s most impoverished district, and its finances bear that out. Youngstown’s five-year forecast, according to the ODE, shows a district facing dire financial straits in the coming years. Its unreserved fund balance, out of which salaries and benefits are paid, charts in a straight line down into the red, from $23 million in FY22 to -$20.1 million in FY27.

Compare that with similar districts such as Warren and Zanesville. Warren’s five-year forecast shows a decline from $2.8 million in FY23 to minus $7.39 million in FY 2027. Zanesville also trends down, from $35,000 in FY23 to minus $2.78 million in FY2027.

While both districts are heading into negative fund balances, their trajectory is not as steep as Youngstown’s, which may be another factor in explaining why the average salary in those districts is higher, other similarities aside.

Other districts with some similarities to YCSD also aren’t facing such bleak financial pictures. Euclid forecasts downward from $36.1 million in FY 2023 to $14.7 million. Locally, Liberty schools are forecasting a slope down from $3.9 million in FY 2023 to $994,000 in FY 2027. Campbell, which pays most similarly to Youngstown, forecasts a decline from $4.37 million in FY 2023 to -$226,000 in FY 2027.

Union spokesperson Jim Courim said Youngstown’s teachers understand the realities the district is facing. He said the district’s available resources for salaries and student services come down to tax dollars and state funding.

“There’s a pie, and we get a slice of the pie,” he said. “Would we like a bigger slice? Everybody would, but there are other priorities to meet the needs of the students, and we understand that. That’s what we just fought for for a month. We got 3% because that’s what kept everyone teaching. If we got 8%, people would have lost their jobs.”

SPENDING PER PUPIL

While the district may struggle to pay a competitive wage, Youngstown cannot be accused of skimping on student support. The district’s spending per pupil is the highest in the state.

Youngstown City School District’s total operating expenditure per pupil for FY 2022 was $28,968. The next closest district was Orange City in Cuyahoga County, at $25,447. Though a dozen or so other districts in the state topped the $20,000 mark, most of the 607 districts listed on the Cupp Report range between $11,000 and $15,000.

Youngstown also boasts the second highest total revenue per pupil in the state, at $34,504, right behind East Cleveland ($35,043). The next closest district to Youngstown is Cleveland Heights ($27,764).

But because the district has such a weak local tax base, the money for that student support comes from state and federal funds, as Churchill mentioned.

At first glance, Youngstown’s local revenue per pupil, $5,376, seems comfortably within the average across the state, but that figure as a percentage of the district’s total revenue (15.6%) is on the lower end of the range. It is in line with similar districts like East Cleveland (17.8%) and Warren (14%) but pales in comparison to some local districts like Boardman (63.7%) and Austintown (34.3%).

Its state revenue, by percentage, is about average. While Youngstown draws more money from the state than many others, bringing in $13,456 per pupil, that figure represents about 39% of its total revenue — similar to Euclid (34.3%), lower than similar districts like Zanesville (58.7) and Warren (55.4), and in between Boardman (20.3) and Austintown (45.3).

The figures that stand out most starkly are in the federal column.

In this category, Youngstown schools are second to none. Youngstown brought in $15,309 per pupil in FY 2022. No other district in the state even approached $10,000. That dollar value also represents roughly 44.4% of its total operating revenue, a percentage that also is the highest in Ohio by a comfortable margin.

While local districts with higher tax bases, like Boardman (12.6%) and Austintown (16.9%), would be expected to have a lower percentage of federal revenue per pupil, Youngstown is still disproportionately higher than similar districts such as Warren (28.4%) and Zanesville (17.4%).

Courim said teachers will approach next year’s contract talks with the same understanding, and hopes that they can come to terms with the district on a longer-term contract that works for everyone. District officials have said that a levy may be necessary.