ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke teachers are unlikely to take their case for a higher pay raise to City Council, even though they are dissatisfied with the average 4.1 percent increase approved by the School Board.
"I guess we'll have to live with it because I don't feel council will appropriate any more money for the [school budget]," said Esther Cirasunda, president of the Roanoke Education Association.
"At least the board didn't cut what [Superintendent Wayne Harris] had recommended," she said Wednesday. "But I'm still sorry that they didn't go with 6 percent."
Cirasunda had said earlier that the teachers might appeal to council if they didn't receive raises averaging more than 4.1 percent next year.
The teachers contend that the board promised a 6 percent raise as part of a three-year plan to increase their salaries to the national average by the 1998-99 school year.
But board members have said the 6 percent figure was only a projection and they never pledged to provide that amount. They said a smaller raise next year will keep Roanoke on track to reach the national average, because raises for teachers in the rest of the country were smaller this year than expected.
School Board members said Tuesday night that they don't have the money to provide a larger raise for teachers, and they don't know whether council will provide any additional funds.
Cirasunda said the teachers were glad to hear that some board members are concerned about their morale.
Vice Chairman John Saunders said he is worried that teacher morale might drop if the board backs off its promise to raise salaries to the national average.
To preserve raises averaging 4.1 percent, board members said they could not fund two other priority items: planning time for more elementary teachers at a cost of $175,786, and higher pay supplements for athletic coaches at a cost of $88,583.
They also said they don't have $40,000 to begin a middle school football program that had been endorsed earlier.
Councilman William White said Wednesday that city finances are so tight that council will be hard pressed to provide more money for schools next year than the amount previously proposed by City Manager Bob Herbert.
"I don't see any bright spots where we might have more funds," said White, a former School Board member. "The projections don't look favorable."
White, a supporter of middle school football, said he was not sure that the city will have enough money to pay for teams for seventh-and eighth-graders.
"If there is any additional money for the schools, I don't feel that [council] should dictate how it is spent," White said. "I think middle school football is a priority, but that is a decision for the School Board if we have additional funds."
Jeff Artis, who led the campaign to get middle school football, said it is now up to council to decide whether to provide the money.
Artis agreed with School Board members who think teacher pay raises should take precedence over middle school football, but he still believes the city should have football teams for middle schools.
Council members who expressed support for schools during last year's campaign will have an opportunity now to show their commitment, he said.
Artis contends that middle school football will help lower the dropout rate, reduce drug abuse and keep some youths out of trouble.
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