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WEST JORDAN — Teachers in the Jordan School District are about to get a raise. The district plans to put $10 million toward teacher salaries each year and says it already has the money to make it work for the next several years.
Vicki Olsen has been a teacher for a long time — 27 years. She currently teaches accounting at Riverton High School.
"I obviously love teaching because I'm still here," said Olsen.
It has also been a long time since she's had a real raise, she said, but that's about to change.
"Right now, every teacher in the district will get a raise," said Janice Voorhies, president of the Jordan District Board of Education.
Jordan School District has an aggressive plan to put $10 million toward teacher salaries every year. The goal is to retain good teachers, fill difficult teaching positions for subjects like math and science, and recruit fresh faces.
"Young people say, 'I'm going to go where the most money is,' and we were not that place," said Voorhies. "But now we will be."
The Jordan District also wants teachers to know how important they are.
"The first thing it's going to do, hopefully, is improve the morale and make them feel like, yes, we are valued," said Olsen.
Here's how the $10 million will be divvied out:
All new teachers will start at $40,000 per year. That's up from the current average teacher salary of $35,000.
Any teacher who is not making $40,000 will start making that much.
Any teacher who is making more than $40,000 will get a raise.
Every teacher will get a raise every single year.
"We all agree, teachers work hard. They have a difficult job and they deserve to be paid like professionals," said Voorhies.
That goes for teachers like Olsen. She stopped getting raised after 15 years because of a salary cap. The new plan makes her very happy.
"If you have a happy teacher, they're going to perform in the classroom and they're going to be the type of teacher that you want your students to have," said Olsen.
The Jordan District says it already has the money set aside to make the plan work for the next four to five years. After that, district officials may have to ask for a tax increase, but they're not sure yet. The district is still hammering out the final details, but say that the raises will definitely happen by next school year.
