Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040081
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The issue has been a tangle for teachers and the Radford School Board for years because mandated cost-of-living increases have skewed the pay scale. Wednesday, representatives of the Radford Education Association proposed a new scale to the board, one that increases the comparatively smaller raises midlevel teachers now receive.
Under the proposal, all teachers would receive 3 percent raises, a more modest increase than the association has suggested in past years. In addition, the association recommended altering the current salary scale to decrease the number of steps while setting a 3 percent increase between each step.
Because approximately one-third of Radford's teachers are near the top of the scale, the new schedule would add seven steps at the top - adding a new level each year starting with the 1996-97 school year.
The proposal would add $150,000 to the 1995-96 school budget and represents a nearly 4 percent increase in the overall salary allotment.
School Board members seemed receptive to the proposal, but they pointed out two potential drawbacks: There may be no money in future years for cost-of-living raises, and the teachers at the bottom of the scale will receive bigger percentage raises than those at the top during the transition period.
"The scale got out of whack," School Board Chairman Guy Gentry explained Thursday. "This [proposal] would eliminate a lot of inequities."
Teachers Ralph Arthur and Nancy Lee - who head the association's salary committee - presented the new plan to the board. Arthur said almost all of Radford's teachers had been surveyed about the plan, and none was against it.
Arthur showed the board his salary history during his 27 years as a Radford teacher. During 1991-92 school year, he did not receive a raise when salaries were frozen. His highest raise was 18 percent during the 1970-71 school year.
The association proposal also asks for a 15 percent increase in health insurance benefits. The changes also would apply to educational support personnel.
by CNB