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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 26, 1993                   TAG: 9306260174
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

STATE MAY INCREASE TEACHERS' PAY, HOURS

The state superintendent of public instruction proposed Friday raising teachers' salaries 5.7 percent in the first year of the new budget and 8.6 percent in the second year.

In exchange for the raises, teachers would be asked to work an additional five hours a week, Joseph A. Spagnolo Jr. told the state Board of Education.

The proposed pay raise would cost about $230 million over the 1994-96 budget, Spagnolo told the board. The board will meet in July to consider his package of recommendations that would cost an extra $456 million.

State budget constraints, however, may make adoption of the package difficult. Gov. Douglas Wilder has said that the 1994-96 state budget may face a deficit of $500 million to $700 million.

"Many of the programs I would applaud, but it does not seem to do us any good to make requests that are not realistic in light of the current fiscal restraints," said James P. Jones, the board's chairman.

He suggested the board set priorities on the Spagnolo proposals.

The $456 million in recommendations would be in addition to the $359 million in additional funds that the state board said Thursday is needed in the 1994-96 budget just to stay even.

The annual budget for education is about $2.3 billion.

Spagnolo's initiatives also included $225 million in additional funds to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in kindergarten through third grade to 18-to-1. Currently, the average class size for those grades is between 21 and 23 pupils.

The proposal would mean hiring an additional 4,200 teachers.

Spagnolo said state teacher salaries have dropped from 19th to 27th nationally. He said a continued drop in salaries would hurt school divisions around the state.

"This is a very, very large sum of money, but we have to treat teachers as professionals," he said.

Spagnolo said the additional hours would bring teachers' work week to 40 hours.

Rob Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association, said most teachers already work a 50-hour week if class preparation time is included.

by CNB