An Act To Update Teachers' Minimum Salaries
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1381
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MITCHELL, DAVIS, MILLS, NUTTING, SCHNEIDER, BABBIDGE, CAIN, FISCHER, MAKAS, NORTON
Amends: 20-A MRSA §13402, 20-A MRSA §15677

Legislative Document 
No. 1381 
S.P.480 
In Senate, March 22,2005 
An Act To Update Teachers' Minimum Salaries 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Senator MITCHELL of Kennebec. 
Cosponsored by Representative DAVIS of Falmouth and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senators: MILLS of Somerset, NUTTING of Androscoggin, SCHNEIDER of Penobscot, 
Representatives: BABBIDGE of Kennebunk, CAIN of Orono, FISCHER of Presque Isle, 
MAKAS of Lewiston, NORTON of Bangor. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20·A MRSA §13402, sub·§2, as enac ted by PL 1981, c. 
693, §§S and 8, is repealed. 
Sec. 2. 20·A MRSA §13402, sub·§3, as amended by PL 199 S, c. 
676, §7 and affected by §13, is repealed. 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §13402, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 
693, §§S and 8, is repealed. 
Sec. 4. 20·A MRSA §§13403 and 13404, as enacted by PL 1985, 
c. SOS, §3, are repealed. 
Sec.5. 20-A MRSA §§13405 and 13406 are enacted to read: 
513405. 
MiDi .. salaries for 2005 2006 
Each school administrative unit and state-operated school 
shall 
establish 
a 
m~n~mum starting 
salary 
of 
$30,000 
for 
certified teachers for the school year starting after June 30, 
200S. 
513406. 
Updated mipjmum salaries after 2005-2006 
Each school administrative unit and state-operated school 
shall annually update and maintain a minimum starting salary for 
certified teachers in accordance with this section commencing in 
the school year starting after June 30, 2006. 
1. 
Annual adjustment. 
The minimum starting salary required 
for school year 2005-2006 under section 13405 must be indexed to 
and increased annually thereafter by an amount equal to the 
increase in the Consumer Price Index determined by the federal 
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
2. 
Ipcrease calculation. 
The 
increase in the 
Consumer 
Price Index must be calculated using the Consumer Price Index for 
All Urban Consumers, cpr-u, all items index for the northeast 
region for the period from January 1st to December 31st that 
immediately precedes each subsequent school year. 
Sec. 6. 20-A MRSA §l3507-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1987, c. 
524, is further amended to read: 
2. 
Minimums. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the 
State 
and 
the 
bargaining 
agent 
for 
state 
teachers 
in 
state-operated schools and related classifications shall at a 
minimum, in accordance with bargaining procedures set forth in 
Title 
26, 
chapter 
9-8, 
negotiate 
as 
to 
the 
impact 
of 
.. 
... 
implementation of sections 
16496 ~ 
and 
16494 lliQ&. 
The 
negotiations Baal1 ~ 
be limited to salaries. Minimum salaries 
established by those negotiations Baall ~ 
be based upon a 
lBO-day school year and Baal1 ~ 
be proportionately higher for 
posi tions whose incumbents work for longer terms. 
Negotiations 
Baall ~ 
establish pay schedules waiea ~ 
enable the State to 
be 
competi ti ve 
with 
local 
school 
administrati ve 
units 
in 
B 
recrui tment and retention with regard to teachers and related 
classifications. 
The term "teachers and related classifications" 
includes any classification in State Government waiea .thgt is a 
teaching classification, requires professional work in or around 
the classroom setting or is within the career ladder of the 
classifications by virtue of its relationship to educational 
supervision or programming. 
Sec. 7. 20-A MRSA §15677, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c . 
504, Pt. A, §6, is amended to read: 
2. 
Determination of matriz. 
The salary matrix must be 
determined in accordance with the following. 
A. 
For 
fiscal 
year 
2005-06, 
the 
commissioner, 
using 
information 
provided 
by 
a 
statewide 
education 
policy 
research institute, shall establish the salary matrix based 
on the most recently available relevant data and appropriate 
trends in the Consumer 
Price 
Index or other comparable 
index. 
Once the salary matrix relationships for years of 
staff experience and levels of staff education have been 
determined, the salary matrix amounts for 2005-2006 must be 
calculated 
from 
a 
base salary 
amount 
of not less than 
$30,000. 
B. 
For fiscal year 2006-07 and each subsequent year, the 
commissioner shall update the previous year's salary matrix 
to reflect appropriate trends in the Consumer Price Index or 
other comparable index. 
The salary matrix amounts for each 
year must be calculated from a base salary amount that is 
not less than the minimum teachers' salary for the year that 
is prescribed by section 13406. 
Sec. 8. 20-A MRS A §15678, sub-§6 is enacted to read: 
6. 
Determination of salaries and benefits for school level 
teaching staff. 
When 
a 
teacher bargaining agent exists, 
the 
teacher bargaining agent and school administrative unit shall, in 
accordance with the collective bargaining procedures set forth in 
Title 26, chapter 9-A, negotiate to determine by mutual agreement 
the salaries and benefits to be provided to teachers in the 
school administrative unit. 
The amount expended for salaries and 
benefits 
for 
school 
level 
teaching 
staff 
in 
a 
school 
administrative unit is not limited to, but may not be less than, 
the total salary and benefit costs for school level teaching 
staff calculated pursuant to this section. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
updates 
the 
law 
that established 
a 
minimum 
teachers' salary, starting in 1987, of $15,500, an amount that is 
now outdated and increases the amount to $30,000. 
The bill also 
establishes a method for future periodic updating of the minimum 
salary amount and outlines procedures for the distribution of 
funds for teachers' salaries. 
..