The following analysis is derived using data available from various sources as listed on my “References/Data Source” page.

 

For a full description of the methodology used, see my “Methodology” page.

The most recent version of this can be found at http://toddmaddison.com/ousdpay. 

This current version was updated 1/26/2020.

If anyone has any issue with the data or analysis I’d welcome that discussion – I’d like to make sure my data is as accurate as possible, if you see something, say something!

Analysis

Data for this analysis was from a period starting in 2012 and ending in 2018, based on the latest pay data available from the sources listed.

San Diego County Compensation

As a baseline for comparison to compensation levels normal in private industry in this area, I’m using statistics for private industry as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the US Census Bureau’s data. 

Average County Wages

According to the BLS, in 2018 the average pay of private industry workers in the county was $60,273/year.

For the period 2012-2018 the BLS Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of wages was 2.21%/year.

Median Wages by Educational Attainment

To determine comparable wages by educational attainment I use US Census Bureau numbers, which are reported as median values.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2018 the median county resident with a bachelor’s degree made $61,333/year.  The median for those with graduate or professional degrees was $84,155/year.   

To determine the educational mix of Oceanside teachers I use the California Department of Education’s “Dataquest” database, “Staff Education Report – District Level” report.  This
shows 51.28% of teachers in the district had bachelor’s degrees, the remaining 48.72%
had higher level degrees.

If we adjust the Census median pay numbers to weight them according to this same mix, the median SD County resident with educational attainment similar to the OUSD teacher workforce made $72,453 in 2018. 

Oceanside Unified Compensation

Using public pay data reported by Oceanside Unified, obtained through California Public Records Act requests and posted on the Transparent California website, we find:

All Full-Time Employees

In 2018, the average total pay of all 1544 full-time OUSD employees was $71,739/year.

This is $11,466/year, or 19.02% more than average county residents.

In 2012, the average total pay of all 1605 full-time OUSD employees was $59,362/year.

Between the beginning and end of this period, the average pay has increased $12,377/year or 20.85%.

If we look at a longitudinal analysis to determine the actual pay rate increases of actual employees during this time (see “Methodology”), we see since 2012 employees who have remained with the district have had their average total pay increase by $14,346/year (or
22.17%), with a CAGR of 3.39%.

This growth rate is 1.53 times greater than rate of wage growth for the average county resident during this period.

Administrative Employees

In 2018, the average total pay for all 68 full-time administrative employees was $110,899/year.  The median for such employees was $114,979/year.

In 2018, the average total pay for the 41 full-time administrative employees who have been with the district since 2012 was $115,430/year.  The median for such employees is $116,117/year.

Since 2012, this cohort of employees has had their average total pay increase by $25,267/year (or 28.02%), with CAGR of 4.20%. 

This growth rate is 1.90 times greater than growth for the average county resident during this period.

Median total pay for this group increased with a CAGR of 5.03%.

Certificated Employees

In 2018, the average total pay for 937 full-time certificated employees was $83,619/year.  The median for such employees is $87,872/year.

In 2018, the average total pay for the 523 full-time certificated employees who have been with the district since 2012 was $91,744/year.  The median for such employees is $97,009/year.

In 2012, the average total pay for these employees was $76,437/year.  Median was $77,738/year.

Since 2012, this cohort of employees has had their average total pay increase by $15,307/year (or 20.03%), with CAGR of 3.09%. 

This growth rate is 1.40 times greater than growth for the average county resident during this period. 

Median total pay for this group increased with a CAGR of 3.76%.

In the Certificated group, the case is often made that teachers should be paid commensurate with their educational attainment, based on what they would be likely to make with the same education if they were working in private industry.

Comparing OUSD Certificated employees to the median for county residents with comparable educational attainment, we see that the 2018 OUSD certificated full-time median total pay (of $87,872/year) is $15,420/year, or 21.28%, higher than the median for comparably educated SD county residents of $72,453/year.

Budget Impact

Since passage of prop 30 in 2012, according to the CDE’s “Current Expense of Education” data the average expense per student in Oceanside Unified has grown from $8,209/ADA in 2012 to $12,181/ADA in 2018.   This is an overall increase of $3,972, or 48.38%, with a compound average annual growth rate of 6.80%.

During this same time, inflation has gone up at a rate of 2.19%/year (per California Department of Industrial Relations.)

Given that the District is not bankrupt (meaning their incoming revenue roughly matches their expense of education), this means the revenue coming in to the district to support their spending has grown at a rate 3.11 times faster than inflation.

However, even with that the district is, as many are, having financial difficulties.

Wage growth at higher rates than average for residents of the area, of course, has budgetary impact.

If the growth in pay had been kept to rates equivalent to that being given to all other county residents, the growth in this expense would be significantly lower than actual results.

Looking at just the cohort of employees who have been with the district since 2012 (not the entire employee base of the district, just a sub-set), we see if this group’s total pay growth had matched that of average county resident the net budgetary impact (for this group only) would have been a reduction in annual total pay cost to the district of $4,504,952
per year.

If we assume the employees who have not been with the district since 2012 are also benefitting from the same rate of wage growth and also apply the lower pay numbers to pension contributions, funding available for other purposes would be even higher, quite likely by several million dollars.