But in winter, after the tourists leave, the bike shop closes, and so do most of the restaurants. The school, with 64 staffers, is the biggest employer in the immediate area.

Gary has seen his salary go up over the years, but that $18,500 remains on the books as Pennsylvania’s legal minimum teacher salary.

Schools aren’t actually hiring teachers at that rate, according to the state, but some are close.

Turkeyfoot, which has started teachers at $22,000, is one of five districts in the state where the average teacher earns less than $45,000.

But a new proposal by Gov. Tom Wolf would change that.

In one of the signature policy priorities Wolf laid out at the start of his second term, the governor called for a new $45,000 baseline for teacher salaries in the state.

“Our government has failed to address this injustice,” Wolf said during February’s budget address.

On average, classroom teachers in Pennsylvania make around $67,000 a year.

If the governor’s proposal goes into effect, more than 3,000 teachers around the state — many in rural districts like this one — would see their paychecks go up.

“Our teachers would jump up and down,” said Gary, who is also the local teachers union president. “We have some teachers with probably close to 15 years experience that are not at $45,000.”

But as much as some in the state are lauding the proposal as a move toward fairness, others are challenging it as a step away from equity.

The proposed funding is not tied directly to objective measures of student need, and some educators elsewhere in the state feel slighted.

‘Leaving Pennsylvania’

Talk to parents around Turkeyfoot, and they’re well aware low pay is an issue.

“I think it would be great if we raised the salary in Pennsylvania for all the teachers,” said Amy Wilt, a Turkeyfoot alumna watching on the sidelines of her daughter’s softball game.

Asked if she thinks someone could get by on $22,000 here in Confluence, she balks.

“No,” she said. “Who can? No matter what area you’re in. It doesn’t stop gas from going up, it doesn’t stop electricity from going up, and it certainly doesn’t stop college tuitions from going up either.”

Sandy Youngkin owns a bed and breakfast in Confluence, and she considers the town a hidden gem. She proudly spools off all the nearby opportunities for hiking, kayaking, and fishing.



But when it comes to education, Youngkin didn’t stay local. She sent her daughter up the valley to Rockwood Area School District. Youngkin felt the educational offerings were better, and she didn’t like how she saw Turkeyfoot spending its money.

“I do not believe that a $22,000 starting salary is fair for someone who’s in charge of educating your children,” she said.

Wolf’s proposal is about more than paying teachers a living wage. At current salaries, some districts say they struggle to attract and retain qualified educators.

In Turkeyfoot, Superintendent Jeffrey Malaspino said at least a dozen teachers have left in search of higher salaries.

A few years ago, the school wanted to hire a technology education teacher for a curriculum that introduces students to tech concepts in manufacturing, energy, and other STEM fields. The nearby California University of Pennsylvania specializes in training exactly this type of educator.

But when Malaspino got in contact, “They told me that all of their graduates were leaving Pennsylvania, going out of state, because there were just a ton of opportunities and the salaries are higher,” he said.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union and a major player behind Wolf’s proposal, said this is one reason raising the minimum is so important.

“We have a growing teacher shortage in Pennsylvania, and low wages are one factor contributing to it,” said PSEA spokesman Chris Lilienthal. “Experienced educators are being paid a lot less than similarly educated professionals. We believe that raising the minimum teacher salary will ultimately help those school districts attract the best and brightest to teach in our schools.”

The governor’s idea has bipartisan support. State Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, and State Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Luzerne, are sponsoring bills in their respective chambers.

But there’s also been bipartisan pushback on the idea — evidenced by hearings in the education committees.

Cost? Equity?

Some of the biggest skeptics of the plan include educators and education advocates.

Under the proposal, the state would cover the difference between a teacher’s current salary and $45,000. Wolf’s administration estimates it would cost around $14 million to do so, a number that includes benefits.

Wolf, who calls it a fully funded mandate, said this plan wouldn’t cost school districts an extra dime.

In Turkeyfoot, Superintendent Malaspino has a hard time believing that.

As pension costs rise and teachers get their yearly raises, Malaspino worries that — down the line — the governor’s proposal will push local costs higher. And he thinks boosting the lowest salaries could have a ripple effect. Teachers at the higher end of the pay scale will push for more, and that cost would likely fall to local taxpayers, he said, not the state.

“We’re on a pretty tight budget as it is,” he said. “We would have to do most likely a referendum to try and get additional tax revenue to meet the demands of the higher salary.”

Donna Cooper of the nonprofit Public Citizens for Children and Youth said that might not be a bad thing.

The way she sees it, many of the districts that would receive a lot of money under the teacher salary hike are already advantaged by the state’s current school funding scheme. Because of a policy known as “hold harmless,” many shrinking, largely rural districts receive more funding from the state than might be predicted by objective factors such as student enrollment.

Turkeyfoot, for example, has lost 7% of its students since 2007, and yet received a 19% increase in basic education funding per student over that same time. The state is trying to rectify those inequities with a new funding formula, but it only applies to new education dollars.

From the standpoint of education equity, Cooper believes any new state investments in schools should go through that student-weighted formula.

By giving out funding based on educator salary levels instead, she said the proposal wouldn’t benefit the schools that need the most state support.

“In some cases, we’re sending money to communities that have extraordinarily high levels of spending per student but are not putting that money into teacher salaries,” said Cooper, a policy director under former Gov. Ed Rendell. In other cases, “we are sending that money to communities that have chosen to underspend on their kids and be low-tax communities.”

The interactive slider map below shows how the state’s 500 school districts would fare comparing distributions through the governor’s salary plan and the student-weighted funding formula.