Saline Education Association

8/6 - Lifetime Earning Analysis

If a new educator were looking for a job in our region, they’d likely consider districts like Okemos, Howell, Brighton, Hartland, Livonia, Chelsea, or Dexter, which are all strong, mid-size, high-performing districts.

But if they chose Saline, they’d earn about $5,000 less to start than the average in those districts,  and the gap only widens over time. A Saline teacher earns $5,000 to $11,500 less each year than peers in similar districts. Over a 30-year career, that’s nearly $249,000 less or about 10% lower for doing the same work.

This isn’t about asking for more. It’s about catching up. The SEA proposal doesn’t push Saline to the top. It just brings us closer to the average.

Saline used to offer competitive educator pay. That’s how we built a strong, sought-after district. But since COVID, the district has shifted its spending priorities, investing more in administration and less in the people working with students. Other districts made different choices, and it shows.

If we want to keep Saline a destination district for families, we need to make it a destination for educators too. A compensation package that reflects the regional average and honors the value of their work is an important step.

7/29 - District Continues to Budget for Admin Salary Growth

Just like families make financial choices to reach long-term goals like college, vacations, or new homes, the district’s budget reflects their priorities and values.

After examining the district’s budget last year, the bargaining team found a notable increase in spending on administrative salaries at Liberty School. From 2020 to 2025, spending on administrative salaries grew from $1.4 million to $2.2 million. That’s a 56% increase, or nearly $800,000. Spending on educator salaries rose just 0.5% during that same time period. 

The budget for 2025/26 includes an additional $270,000 for administrative salaries over the previous year’s initial budget. That’s another 13% increase.

These numbers matter. They reflect choices. We believe the district must prioritize the classroom and the educators working with students daily.

 When we stand together at the August 12 board meeting, we will send a clear message: it’s time to focus on the classroom.

6/18 - District offers lower and regressive offer

How do you accept an offer that is lower and regressive?

In January, the district made what it called its final and best offer. In February, that offer was shared by the school board president and posted on the district website. By the district’s own accounting, that offer would have directed $5.4 million towards educator salaries.

In May, the district made a new offer as part of mediation, which was again shared by the school board president and posted on the district website.* The district calculated that this May offer would allocate less to educator salaries than their final and best offer from January. 

In five months, the district’s offers decreased in value by approximately $100,000 for educators. 

While educators were working without a contract and continued showing up for students every day, the district’s negotiating team offered teachers less.

The screenshots below are of the district’s website. They highlight, using the district’s own math, the regressive** nature of their offers.

*Mediation relies on confidentiality. In fact, confidentiality is an absolute cornerstone of the mediation process. When one party shares an offer made during mediation without mutual consent, it is not bargaining in good faith.

**A regressive offer is when one side makes a worse offer than they did before. When one side makes regressive offers, it shows they may not be serious about reaching a deal, which is why regressive offers are not part of good-faith bargaining.

Public sharing of an offer from mediation and a regressive offer can both be grounds for filing Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges with the Michigan Employment Relations Committee (MERC). An experienced bargaining team would know these rules and would not make such errors.

Did the district’s negotiating team make a regressive offer as punishment for members standing up?

The SEA remains committed to good-faith bargaining, and that includes respecting the rules that make progress possible.

6/9 - District budget to be announced soon

We expect the district to announce their budget for next school year soon.

Like most years, the budget will likely show million-dollar deficits and a dwindling fund balance.

However, the district has historically used very conservative estimates, overstating expenses, and underestimating revenues. This often produces a misleadingly negative financial outlook.

Over the past five years, the district's budget projections have been off by a total of $20.2 million. On average, the gap between the projected deficit and the actual surplus exceeds $4 million annually. 

If the district presents another dire forecast, remember that similar projections in the past years have still resulted in a healthy fund balance, which is currently over 27%.

6/1 - District bank account growing but not willing to put money toward educator salaries

Fund Balance Growth in Saline

Why so much profit? Let's put this money in front of students!

The UAAL tax was reduced in Michigan an average of 3% last fall in order to allow educators to receive salary increases without increasing costs for districts.

A 3% raise doesn't cost the district anything!

Sample salary model

5/28 - Losing Good Faith? District cancels bargaining sessions, pushes calendar through in unprecedented move

• On 5/27, the district imposed a calendar for the beginning of the 2025/26 school year without input from students, families, and educators. 

• The district has recently canceled 2 negotiating sessions with the union bargaining team. One of those sessions was scheduled for the day the new calendar was imposed. 

• To date, the district has not offered any future bargaining sessions to continue negotiations. 

For more than 25 years, the SEA and the district have maintained a respectful and collaborative bargaining relationship. The repeated session cancellations, refusal to reschedule, and now the imposition of a calendar suggest that the district's team is not acting in partnership. These actions speak louder than the words in their email signatures or the values symbolized by the district’s compass.

5/20 - Central office admin salaries up 41% since 2019/20

FACT: Since 2019/2020, money going to administrative salaries at central office has increased 41%. In that same time, money going towards salaries of educators and building principals, the people working most closely with students, has decreased.

5/15 - Percentage of revenue going to educator salaries down 18% since 2019/20

FACT: Across all steps, Saline Educators have averaged less than a 1% raise per year for the past 12 years. This includes 0% raises for the past two years.

Fact: The percentage of revenue that the district has been spending on educator salaries has decreased nearly 18% since 2019.