So we are a few days later from the sit-in and while reading back my first post I did find that I made an assumption that wouldn't be true in the math.  I was comparing the first year salary from 05 to 09 as a static.  But a new teacher starting in 2005 would be on Step 4 this year making a salary of $37,659 per year.

So the increase in salary is actually 17.14% over the five year span.  From $32,150 in year 1 to $37,659 this year.  (This assumes the teacher survived any potential cuts of course.)

So does a 17% raise over the 5 year period or about 3.4% each year make sense given the economic climate we currently have?  I'm pretty sure I know what everyone's answer would be on that one.

Of course I like to be different from everyone...  Therefore 3.4% per yr is not nearly enough in the beginning of a career.   Five years in this sounds fine...  However the new employee's knowledge and capability are growing so fast in the first five years, their compensation should definitely increase faster than that.

Now the question is: Why is a 20 yr experienced teacher worth more than 10 yr experienced teacher ???   Can they teach better, faster, more energetically, etc.  The world may never know.....