ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
A survey, originally intended to find out how many Montgomery County teachers moonlight at other jobs, found morale lower than expected, in large part because of salaries.
"I was embarrassed to be a teacher in Montgomery County," said Mike Riley, who heads the Montgomery County Education Association compensation committee.
Riley presented the survey - and the scathing comments that accompanied it - to the county School Board last week.
The board must decide in the next few weeks where to cut more than $5 million from next year's budget. Originally, it proposed a 7 percent salary increase. With only $70,169 in new funds allocated by the Board of Supervisors, the largest increase the School Board could afford is 5 percent.
For many of the teachers who responded to the anonymous survey, the lack of sufficient funding has been an ongoing problem.
"It's bad enough that a teaching income is so low but to not even be able to keep up with inflation is an insult," wrote one teacher.
Almost half of the county's 600 teachers responded to the survey, with years of teaching experience ranging from one to 36 years.
Half of those who responded had earned a master's degree in education. Still, about half supplement their income, either through sponsoring extracurricular activities or coaching, or through tutoring or other outside employment.
One member of the compensation committee, who asked that her name not be used, said she spent the last several years teaching night classes four nights a week at New River Community College.
School Board Chairwoman Annette Perkins said as a former teacher she wasn't surprised to hear of the financial struggle some teachers face.
"What surprised me was the intensity and the number of responses. You can't dismiss it. It's one more documented piece of information that says we ought to keep it foremost in [the School Board's] mind," she said.
Perkins said where once teaching jobs may have been supplemental income in a two-person household, single parents are now trying to survive on one salary.
"My paycheck barely covers my bills," wrote another teacher. "By the 15th of the month, all I have left is a small amount of child support. ... I intend to apply for food stamps this month and have it on good authority that I qualify. How can I be all I can be as a teacher under this sort of stress and deprivation?"
Teachers are required to take at least two graduate level courses every five years to stay certified, an expense they must pay for, often on top of undergraduate school loans.
There is no question that people in other professions face the same struggle, said Brownie Cauley, another member of the committee. But most professions don't have the responsibilities teachers face each day.
"It comes down to an issue of fairness," he said. "A teacher's experience says something for continuity in a child's education. These people have a lot of ownership and pride in their schools, but they're not being treated fairly."
Members of the committee fear quality teachers will leave if compensation doesn't improve.
One teacher reflected many comments from the survey: "I am currently applying to other school systems, all of which pay a teacher what he/she deserves."
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB