Teacher salary freeze suggested as part of state education cuts

By Dan Carden, Times of Northwest Indiana

daniel.carden@nwi.com

A freeze on teacher salary increases has been the most frequent cost-savings proposal presented to the Indiana State Board of Education Thursday.

Indiana schools could save an estimated $89 million if scheduled annual teacher raises were canceled, the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board told the board. However, canceling teacher pay hikes would have to be negotiated between local school corporations and teachers unions and could not be directly ordered by the state.

The state school board has been asked by Gov. Mitch Daniels to recommend ways to cut "at least" $300 million from K-12 education to help fix a $1.8 billion state budget deficit.

Other savings suggestions included school consolidation, eliminating extracurricular activities, making school employees pay more of the health insurance premiums, sharing technology among school corporations and cutting perks for local school board members.