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

DATE: TUESDAY, June 6, 1995                   TAG: 9506060115
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: YORKTOWN                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOSS WANTS TO ADD DAYS FOR SAME TEACHERS' PAY

The York County school superintendent is asking the system's teachers to work more days for the same pay, and he wants other superintendents in the area to do the same.

Technically, teachers in Virginia work a 200-day contract. But local school boards have the discretion to drop as many as 10 of those days from the schedule, and many do.

Superintendent Steven Staples asked teachers to work two more days - 193 instead of 191 - this year. Next year, they will work 195. The teachers will spend the extra days training and planning lessons in the summer before school starts.

``This is part of the contract year,'' Staples said. ``I don't want to pay extra for an effort that's part of the contract year.''

Staples believes it is time to ask teachers to work all 200 days called for in their contract. That is his goal in York County, but he wants to go slowly.

``We'll hold at 195 for a while, while I encourage the rest of the region to catch up,'' Staples said. ``I don't anticipate this happening soon.''

Rob Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association, said Monday that it is unfair to ask teachers to work more days without increasing their pay.

``As a matter of principle, if you're going to ask someone to work more days, you should offer at least per-diem compensation,'' Jones said. ``The fact that the contract says 200 days really isn't relevant.''

He said many teachers work summer jobs to supplement their income. The extra days at school could cost those teachers money, he said.

Many York County teachers said Staples' plan doesn't bother them, because they often work extra on their own.

``I really don't mind, I guess,'' said Barbara Staggs, a first-grade teacher. ``I usually spend extra time at school anyway, and it's my own time, so I can't see that it will be that much different.''

But Nancy Kent, president of the York Education Association and a second-grade teacher, said, ``If they keep adding days without compensating us for it, it's not fair.''

Staples said he is responding to teachers' requests for more planning and training opportunities. This provides those opportunities without taking away from classroom time.

State law requires children to attend at least 180 days of class each year. That is exactly the number of class days scheduled in York County.

by CNB