The Lawrence school board has floated a proposal to raise the pay for some new teachers, but the teachers’ association has met it with trepidation.

The proposal is geared toward those who teach subjects like special education, science and math – areas where it is hard to recruit teachers.

“One of the big things missing is the ability to reward exemplary teachers with additional pay as well as the ability to offer higher salaries to those positions we’re finding harder and harder to fill,” board member Scott Morgan said.

The proposal would allow teachers in hard-to-fill positions to be placed differently on the salary schedule. Teachers are currently paid according to a negotiated schedule based on years of experience in the district and their level of education beyond a bachelor’s degree.

But Lawrence Education Association leaders have expressed no interest in talking about the differential pay proposal. They say the problem is that teacher salaries are too low in general.

“Targeting these hard-to-fill positions is a Band-Aid approach to an endemic problem that needs to be addressed,” said LEA President Adela Solis, who teaches English as a second language at Cordley School.

Still, school board negotiators are trying to find a way to talk more about the issue with teachers. Last week, they asked to create a subcommittee to study the issue, but LEA negotiators said they weren’t interested.

Robert Harrington, a Kansas University education professor, said school districts should focus on retaining teachers. States have an adequate supply of people certified to teach, but districts fail to keep them in the profession, he said.

Harrington said starting a differential pay system seems to focus on recruitment more than retention and might be “opening a can of worms,” particularly if teachers with less experience are getting paid more than those who have worked for several years.

“There are some morale issues that have to be thought about and addressed,” he said.

But the Lawrence district faces a shortage of special education teachers and last year relied on long-term substitutes for a few of those positions. That will be another challenge this coming year, said David Cunningham, the human resources director for certified staff.

Principals are still hiring and making offers for all teaching openings. As of last week, administrators had hired 51 teachers or certified employees but still had 58 openings, Cunningham said. More hires will be made in the coming weeks, he said.

Morgan said Lawrence has not been hit as hard by teacher shortages in certain subjects as other Kansas districts. But with more teachers retiring in coming years, he said, staffing likely will become tougher, especially in math and science.

It’s important, he said, for school board members and administrators to find some way to make differential pay part of the negotiating process with teachers.

“I know that it has to be mutual or it’s going to be sunk before it ever leaves the dock,” Morgan said.