THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996               TAG: 9601120022
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

VIRGINIA TEACHER PAY LAGS DISMALLY THROW MONEY AT SCHOOLS

Any supplicant who's faced enough budget committees has been told that you can't solve problems simply by throwing more money at them. If you're careful to leave the ``simply'' in, the assertion makes obvious sense.

But the reverse is true also. You can create or worsen problems simply by not throwing enough money at them.

Today, in Virginia, on the question of paying schoolteachers, the second assertion is the pertinent one.

Historically in the commonwealth, teachers have fared poorly. Years ago the state got away with its inattention because the supply was abundant: hosts of college-educated women with few options outside the classroom. But the old workplace has disappeared; job opportunities are much broader for today's women and men alike.

As late as 1982, teacher pay in Virginia ranked embarrassingly low among the 50 states. Successive administrations - Charles S. Robb's and Gerald L. Baliles' - and the General Assembly struggled mightily for the rest of the decade to reach the national average. They came close, within $423 according to the National Education Association.

Just four years later, in 1994-95, the commonwealth's retreat had become a rout. Virginia's teachers averaged $3,121 less, or seven times what the gap was in 1990.

First, Gov. L. Douglas Wilder applied a no-tax-increase rule during the economic recession as Virginia balanced its budgets just by shifting, delaying and cutting appropriations. Gov. George F. Allen has followed with stingy budgets justified by the spurious claim that he was rescuing the state from years of Democratic fiscal excess.

In truth, Virginia possesses one of the nation's strongest economies; it has the ability to pay for what's needed, and the commonwealth's tax load, compared with other states', is moderate to light.

No, the Old Dominion cannot solve problems in public education simply by spending more to pay teachers. But without a competitive salary level, the state cannot continue to attract and keep the most talented among them.

This is one problem Virginia indeed should throw more money at. by CNB