Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 28, 1995 TAG: 9511280133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The average salary for a Virginia teacher was $33,907 last year. That was $2,837 below the national average - and ranked Virginia 25th.
But take into account the state's cost of living, and Virginia jumps to 18th, according to a report by the American Federation of Teachers, the nation's second-largest teachers union.
Because the state's cost-of-living index is below the national figure, the adjusted average salary for Virginia teachers was $36,604 - only $140 below the national average.
In adjusting teacher salaries for differences in the cost of living among the states, the AFT is recognizing something businesses have long known.
For example, businesses in the Roanoke Valley and other areas that can't compete with higher salaries paid in other parts of the country use a lower cost of living as a recruiting tool to help attract and keep employees, said Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership.
Doughty said economic developers also use the area's low cost of living as a selling point to attract industries, because they can expect to pay lower salaries.
Officials with the Virginia Education Association said Monday they question the methods used by the AFT to calculate the cost of living in Virginia.
Ralph Shotwell, VEA research director in Richmond, said some localities in Northern Virginia were excluded from the calculation of the state's cost of living, which produced a lower index for the rest of the state.
The VEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union. Nearly 52,000 teachers in the state are members of VEA. Only 4,000 belong to the AFT, which is strongest in the northeastern United States.
Teachers in Roanoke, Roanoke County and several other localities have urged their school boards to raise their salaries to the national average. They contend that higher pay is needed to attract and keep good teachers.
In some affluent localities in Northern Virginia, the average teacher pay is above the national average.
But in Roanoke County, the average pay was about $1,800 below the national average last year. In Roanoke, it was about $2,200 below.
However, the cost of living in the Roanoke Valley is about 93 percent of the national average, based on the latest figures. "We use that when we talk to companies. The cost of doing business here is less. Wages and compensation are adjusted for that," Doughty, of the Economic Development Partnership, said.
In a few rural counties in Virginia, the average salary for teachers was $10,000 lower than the national average.
Some school boards have agreed with the teachers on the need for higher salaries.
Roanoke has set a goal of raising its salaries to the national average within three years. Roanoke County hopes to do it within five years.
The AFT report does not include salaries for school divisions, but the average pay in both the city and county was higher than the state average last year. In Roanoke, it was about $34,500. In the county, it was about $35,000.
Salem's salaries are higher than Roanoke's and Roanoke County's and rank in the top 10 school divisions in the state in some categories.
Chairman Nelson Harris said the Roanoke School Board has not considered the state's cost of living in establishing its goal of raising salaries to the national average.
"We have been looking at dollar-for-dollar in salaries. Teachers look at the bottom-line salary," Harris said.
If Roanoke is going to attract and keep the best teachers, it has to offer salaries that are competitive nationally, he said. "We are competing with everyone for the top teachers."
Esther Cirasunda, executive vice president of the Roanoke Education Association, said the teachers' organization supports the School Board's goal. She said teachers have not considered differences in cost of living.
Richard Kelley, Roanoke's assistant superintendent for operations, said he had not seen the AFT report and could not comment on the accuracy of the figures.
Rob Jones, VEA president, said he has a problem with the methodology used by AFT in calculating Virginia's salaries. He believes that it tends to overestimate them.
The AFT bases its average salary on the funds that were allocated for teacher pay rather than the amount that was actually spent based on year-end audits, he said.
Jerry Canada, chairman of the Roanoke County School Board, said he had not heard about the AFT report, but he plans to get a copy.
"We are committed to raising our teachers' salaries to where they need to be," he said.
Canada wants to find out whether the county's teachers think the state's cost of living should be considered in salaries.
Doris Boitnott, executive director of the Roanoke County Education Association, said she had not seen the AFT report and could not comment on it. But the county teachers' group agrees with the VEA that teachers' salaries should be higher, she said.
During the past school year, Connecticut had the highest average salary, $50,598, with Alaska second at $47,864 and New York third at $47,612. South Dakota had the lowest, $26,037.
After adjustment for cost of living, the highest average salaries were paid in Michigan, followed by Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin.
The report showed that the average pay raise for teachers in the past year was 2.7 percent The average salary for a first year teacher was increased by 2.9 percent. Both were below the inflation rate of 3 percent.
"Improvements in the quality of public schools will be harder to make if bright college students find they can do much better financially in some other profession," said Edward J. McElroy, secretary-treasurer of AFT. "The salary gains of the 1980s could be quickly lost it the trend continues."
He said salaries for college graduates entering business remained high compared with beginning salaries for teachers. They ranged from 50 percent more for engineers to 16 percent more for accounting and business majors.
by CNB