Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 24, 1990 TAG: 9004240073
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"The whole system needs revamping," said School Board Chairwoman Virginia Kennedy at Tuesday's meeting.
"We're all dissatisfied . . . with the scale in general," she said Friday. But it's too late to restructure the whole system by the 1990-91 school year, Kennedy said.
Board member Donald Lacy highlighted at the meeting what he considered the scale's chief problem: the incompatibility two systems to give raises.
One system is the state-mandated pay increase, 5 percent this year. The other is a system of step increases that correspond with years of experience, regardless of state mandates. This is the basis for most teacher salary scales in Virginia.
The 1990-91 salary scale has left some teachers feeling cheated and confused, according to Mary Biggs, a second-grade teacher at Harding Elementary and a member of the Education Association's salary committee.
She and others do not understand why the percentage increases vary widely, ranging from 5.47 percent for beginning teachers to 5 percent for those with the most seniority. The teachers were under the impression that everyone would receive a 5.2 percent increase, she said. This is why they publicly endorsed the School Board budget before the Board of Supervisors, she and others said.
The School Board budgeted a 5.2 percent increase to raise each step by at least 5 percent, Deputy Superintendent Curtis Gray said.
He said the average salary of $27,653 rose 5.2 percent, to $29,090. This includes supplements for coaching, for instance, and for advanced degrees.
Kennedy said while it's too late to revamp the whole scale, the percentages on the scale still could be changed.
She mentioned the options presented at Tuesday's meeting by Gray, the school system's finance wizard. Gray is considered the only person in the school system who completely understands the scale.
One of the options he presented is a 5 percent increase at every step. Another calls for a 5.2 percent increase at each step. A third is a 20-step scale with a 17.83 percent increase at the top.
Gray agrees with the belief of many educators that a salary scale based on years of experience is "the worst method possible."
But it's extremely difficult to come up with a better system, he said - and controversial, when the alternative is merit pay.
Who is to say a teacher with 10 years' experience is doing a better job than one with two years? Gray asked. "Why measure on the basis of experience?" The way a salary scale is constructed and how teachers are placed on the scale depends entirely upon the philosophy of the School Board, he said.
He predicted that all the fuss over the salary scale eventually will lead to a pay-for-performance system.
On the new scale, the highest percentage increases are for teachers with the least experience.
One reason given for this is the need to entice good beginning teachers to the school system, said Jennie Reilly, an Auburn High School teacher and vice president of the Education Association.
Reilly says this is a "ridiculous argument" because of the close proximity of Virginia Tech and Radford.
A teacher with two years' experience will make $21,400 this year and $22,575 next year - an increase of 5.5 percent. The top teacher's salary in Montgomery County will increase 5 percent, from $34,200 to $35,910.
This year, roughly 93 teachers are at the top of the scale, while only 17 are at the very bottom.
Just last week, the Montgomery County Education Association's salary committee sent a letter to Gray, Superintendent Harold Dodge and School Board members with a salary proposal.
The teachers' proposed scale calls for a 5.2 percent increase at each of 21 steps, except for step 20, where there would be an 18.06 percent increase. This is a reward for teachers who reach the top, Biggs said.
The teachers say their proposed scale would cost about $91,000 more. "But this money would be well spent because it would make the 1990-91 scale consistent with past scales," the letter read.
Gray said the school system must give the mandated 5 percent increase or lose a $534,407 salary incentive grant, or $103 per student.
by CNB