
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993                   TAG: 9306140345
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOW PAY NOT THE ONLY INDIGNITY TEACHERS ENCOUNTER

Most teachers at Roanoke's Alternative Education Center earn only as much as rookie teachers at other city schools.

This year, that was about $22,600, even though many of them have years of experience.

Peter Lewis, the program's founding director, and current director George Franklin contend their teachers deserve more pay. "They ought to be paid at the same rate as regular teachers and, perhaps, get a premium," Lewis says.

One obstacle in their campaign to win higher pay is that, though all center teachers are college graduates, not all are certified.

At the beginning, Lewis and Franklin chose as their first teachers people who showed a commitment to children. Some were not certified, so Lewis and Franklin did not make that a requirement.

Now, they are trying to get all the teachers to win certification.

Alternative Ed's teachers have suffered indignities besides low pay.

For years, Franklin said, they got pink slips each Easter, saying they might not be rehired in the fall. Franklin said Superintendent Frank Tota put that to a stop.

Slowly, Alternative Ed has found supporters.

It began with a budget of about $167,000. Next school year, its budget will be to be $728,000 - almost half in grants.

In Roanoke, parents at many regular schools fight hard for their children's schools. But Alternative Ed doesn't have that kind of lobby.

Vonnie Lewis, an Alternative Ed administrator, couldn't think of any parents who had been active volunteers this year.

by CNB