ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 13, 1996 TAG: 9612130044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Unhappy with Superintendent Wayne Harris' recommendation for salary raises for next year, Roanoke teachers say they may take their case for higher pay to City Council if the School Board doesn't back their request.
``We feel like council members made a promise to support a 6 percent pay raise for each of the next two years, and we may talk with them about it,'' said Esther Cirasunda, president of the Roanoke Education Association.
Cirasunda said Thursday that Harris' recommendation for a 3 percent increase in the salary scale is a ``broken promise'' because school officials had indicated teachers would get a 6 percent raise.
``When they promised to raise our salaries, they said we would need 6 percent the next two years to get to the national average by 1998-99,'' she said.
But Harris said a smaller increase next year will keep Roanoke teachers on track to reach the national average because raises for teachers in the rest of the country were smaller this year than expected.
Several School Board members agreed that a 6 percent raise is not needed next year, but they said they are still committed to raising salaries to the national average.
In addition to the 3 percent increase for all teachers next year, about one out of five would also receive a ``tier raise'' ranging from 2.5 percent to 19 percent, producing an average raise of 4.1 percent for teachers.
The board is in the middle of a three-year plan to boost salaries to the national average. When the plan was approved, school officials said it would take 6 percent each year for three years, Cirasunda said.
The teacher pay scale was increased by 6 percent this year. About one out of five teachers was eligible for a tier raise, producing an average raise of 7 percent.
``The board members have changed their tune in the past two weeks. They were saying that they would support a 6 percent raise, but now they say 4 percent is enough,'' Cirasunda said.
But board member Harry Davis said the board never pledged a fixed raise, but only promised to boost salaries to the national average.
``It was thought at that time that a 6 percent raise would be needed, but there was not a commitment to a fixed figure,'' Davis said.
Harris said the proposed raises for teachers next year will cost $1.7 million, but that there is not enough money for bigger increases.
Preliminary projections show school revenues will increase by $2.9 million in the next year - $1.2 million in state funds, $1.5 million in city funds and $200,000 in federal funds and other sources.
But that leaves a shortfall of $1.9 million because the proposed budget is up $4.8 million. Harris said he hopes the gap can be closed by when the board acts on the budget in February, but that will depend heavily on whether the General Assembly provides more state money.
Cirasunda said teachers face the same financial pressures as other workers and many are hard-pressed to live on their salaries.
Some teachers cannot afford a college education for their children or have to send them to community colleges, she said.
City teachers face more pressures than their counterparts in other localities because they teach in an urban environment, she said.
``We didn't get any substantial raises for several years and we got behind other localities,'' she said.
Roanoke ranked 20th out of 133 Virginia school systems in average teacher salary in 1994-95, the last year for which data is available.
Teacher salaries are higher in Roanoke at some points on the pay scale than in Roanoke County, but lower at other points, depending on the teacher's degree and years of experience, said Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations in the city.
Overall, the average salary of a city teacher is $756 - 2.2 percent - higher than if placed at the corresponding point on the county salary scale, he said. The analysis does not include supplements for coaching or other extra duties beyond teaching because not all teachers receive supplements, he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB