Step and Column Explained

The term "step and column" refers to automatic raises on a salary schedule, such as the one illustrated to the right.  Each row, or step, corresponds to a year of work experience.  Each column refers to level of professional education.

The Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) publishes three different salary schedules: one for certificated employees (i.e. teachers, counselors, principals, etc.,), one for classified employees, and one for management and confidential employees.  Only the certificated employee schedule includes column raises.

An example teacher starting out at PUSD who has four years of experience in another district, a bachelor's degree, and 28 continuing education credits would end up on Step 4-Column 1/Standard ($60,372) in the illustrated schedule above.  During the year, our example teacher takes a class and obtains four more credits, enough to put him into Column 2.  In the next school year, the example teacher moves into Step 5 and becomes eligible for a raise of $3,869 (6%) because he'll now be at Step 5-Column 2/Standard ($64,241).

A Raise is a Raise - How District Employee Costs Multiply Without "Raises"

The step and column increases that employees can expect are in addition to Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) raises that are negotiated between the District and the unions.  The difference between a step raise and a column raise is that employees must apply for their column raise.

As District employees move up a salary schedule, these increases add up.  The State normally provides extra funds to help pay for step and column raises through a calculated increase called COLA.  With no COLA coming from the State this year, the District finds itself with a shortfall.  The District has the ability to negotiate a freeze in step and column increases during such years, especially if it doesn't have the reserves to pay for them.

PUSD will need an additional $1.5 million every year just to cover these automatic step and column increases.  Because these costs are additive, it will cost the District $3 million next year and so on and so on.  In four years, the District will have spent $15 million of taxpayer money to pay for these increases.  Compare this with the $18 million the District will obtain from four years of Measure G.

 Total for all four years = $15M