Alliance College-Ready Public Schools' Exceptional Teacher Pay Helps Shape Exceptional Scholar Outcomes

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Alliance College-Ready Public Schools

Apr 08, 2024, 12:04 ET

The nationally-ranked nonprofit's commitment to a best-in-class work experience continues to pay off with strong educator retention rates and scholars who consistently outpace neighborhood schools.

LOS ANGELES, April 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Studies show that teachers are the most important factor when it comes to a child's learning in school, and a caring adult – in and out of school – is critical to developing the whole child. Yet, post pandemic, school districts across the country continue to struggle with acute staff shortages due to burnout. In California, for example, 37.1% of teaching positions are currently unfilled. Understanding this, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is currently hiring, and are offering above average pay for this all important educator role.

Alliance has a long-standing commitment of investing in its people. Using fact based research, the Talent team focuses on ensuring Alliance provides a great experience for its educators which in turn equips educators to support a sense of belonging, and the academic success of scholars.

Alliance's initiatives include first-rate benefits, professional development, and industry-leading compensation. Alliance was the first school system in Los Angeles to institute a livable wage for all employees, with wages in 2024-2025 starting at $21.25 an hour. Beginning July 1, 2024, first-year teachers' salaries currently begin at $70,000 a year, nearly 40% above the California average, with experienced teachers making up to $130,000 a year. This is an average increase of over 42% from the last new teacher scale implemented at Alliance schools in the 2020-2021 year. Additionally, certified employees such as counselors, social workers, and school psychologists have also experienced an average of over 32% in their compensation over the same period.

"As research on teacher shortage and attrition consistently shows, one of the leading factors that increase retention is the level of support and development that teachers receive," says Alliance Chief People Officer Ryan Bennett. "Recognizing this, Alliance has redesigned its approach to staff compensation and benefits, and focused our teacher evaluation system on professional growth and development."

Professional development initiatives include robust induction and mentoring of new teachers, regular and effective coaching of all educators, and comprehensive leadership development. In addition, Alliance is also piloting new approaches to ensure teachers have more protected planning time, coupled with additional intervention time for scholars to accelerate their learning.

Alliance's investments are paying off for educators and scholars alike. 90% of Alliance teachers have said they plan to stay at Alliance, and 80% of staff say they would recommend Alliance to a friend. And while a majority of scholars enter the school system more than 3 grade levels behind, 95% go on to graduate high school, and 96% of graduates are accepted to college. Overall, Alliance schools also outperform neighboring public schools in ELA and math, and are competitive with Los Angeles County schools located in high-wealth districts.

"Our belief and investment in our staff is a long-view approach," adds Alliance CEO Pablo Villavicencio. "Currently, 39% of our scholars graduate from college, which is 3.5 times the national average for students from low-income communities. Our aspiration is that at least 75% of our scholars will graduate from college. We strive to be a great employer – ensuring our staff are healthy and thriving – so that our people can deliver on our promise of a college-ready education for our scholars."

Alliance schools have received prestigious recognition from the National Blue Ribbon School Awards and the California Gold Ribbon Awards. They've also been honored among California Distinguished Schools, U.S. News & World Report's Best Middle and High Schools, and Stanford University's CREDO.

About Alliance
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is one of the largest and most successful nonprofit public charter school networks in the nation, operating 26 high-performing, middle and high schools that educate nearly 13,000 scholars who make up the heart of Los Angeles' Latinx, Black, and recent immigrant communities. Alliance schools have been recognized as among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, the U.S. Department of Education, and the California Department of Education. Since opening our first school in 2004, 95% of Alliance scholars have graduated from high school. We strive to uplift our scholars and their communities by fostering unparalleled educational opportunities that encourage scholarly thought, resilient learning, powerful communication, mind-body wellness, and community advocacy. To learn more, connect with Alliance: laalliance.org, X (formally Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.