Compensation Philosophy

  • Saint Paul Public Schools’ mission is to inspire students to think critically, pursue their dreams and change the world. Student learning and high academic achievement is at the heart of all we do. To ensure educational excellence for our students, it is imperative that we have high standards and expectations for our employees. To that end, SPPS is committed to providing a competitive total rewards employee program to attract, engage, motivate and retain diverse and extraordinary talent with the requisite expertise, skills and commitment to ensuring academic excellence for all students. 

    SPPS’s total rewards program is an investment in each employee and our collective future. The goal of the total rewards program is to deliver a comprehensive and market competitive compensation and benefit package for all employees.  

     Through our total rewards program, Saint Paul Public Schools aspires to: 

    • Become a market leader in the Twin Cities and the region. The district aspires to be a market leader across all job types. Salaries will be targeted at the level needed to achieve our recruitment, performance and retention objectives. 

      • External Competitiveness: Our compensation program must be designed to attract, retain and reward a diverse, high-quality and high-performing workforce. This means setting salaries and benefits at levels that are competitive with our designated comparative sets in both the public and private sectors, where appropriate. In order to continue to attract and retain quality talent, we must provide opportunities for growth and career development. 

      • Internal Equity: Provide and implement salary guidelines that ensure comparable jobs are paid similarly across the organization and in accordance with state statute. Pay adjustments may be provided to employees when appropriate to address internal equity while recognizing the need for market competitiveness. Salaries for new employees will be established at levels that recognize the individual’s skills and experience while considering the salary levels of current employees within the same or comparable positions.  

      • Balanced Approach: Operate within the realities of the labor market and make adjustments as needed to attract and retain staff in this ever-changing landscape. 

      • Establish Minimum Standards: Actively work to get salaries of all positions to initially be at the median and, over time, to the top quartile to solidify the district’s position as a market leader.  

      • Continuous Improvement: Review the total compensation program regularly for competitiveness, cost-effectiveness and value to employees. Review of position descriptions and benchmarking of positions will be done regularly. A comprehensive review will be done at least every 3-5 years. 

      • Differentiation: We recognize that the competitive market may be different for different jobs/positions.   

    • Ensure sound, responsible stewardship over the district’s resources. The district’s overall performance, achievement of strategic objectives and financial capacity driven by student enrollment and market conditions will determine the budget available for funding of compensation, cost-of-living increases, market adjustments, reclassifications and promotions.