Figuring It All Out

Figuring It All Out

Back on December 14 of last year, The Roanoke Times ran an editorial entitled, “Figuring Out Fair pay For Teachers.” I remember reading that piece and just shaking my head and wondering exactly what reality the editorial writer lives in. I decided to remain mum on that editorial and let my anger and disgust settle.

Since that time, several things have happened on the teacher salary front. VEA initiated their statewide campaign for teacher salary improvement and the Governor included no funding for teacher salaries for the first year of his proposed biennial budget. In response, VEA has launched a petition drive to rally support for teacher salary improvements.

In addition to the talk of salaries, our local school board has initiated the budget process which you can read about here on this blog. We are pleased to stand shoulder to shoulder with our school board, superintendent, and central office staff in fighting for increased funding for teacher salaries and benefits.

The fight, however, will not be easy. My experience tells me that in good financial times, the state begins repairing the infrastructure. For schools that may mean fronting money for capital construction projects. Teacher salaries are usually a secondary consideration. During stressful financial times, teacher salary concerns usually get pushed further back along the funding chain. The net effect is that over the last seven years, teachers in my school division have generally lost between 3 and 14% in buying power thanks to the powerful ravages of inflation.

One main point that The Roanoke Times was trying to make in their editorial back in December is that we shouldn’t be comparing our teacher salaries to national teacher salaries. Instead, we should look to see how our teachers compare with other teachers in the region. Luckily, just this past week, VEA published its annual “Salary Schedules for Teachers.” In that document, you can do exactly what the RT suggests. So below, you will find bulleted information relating to how Roanoke County teacher salaries compare with their regional and state colleagues. For each category, I’ll share the ranking of each locality listed below with the rest of the state. I’ll include other data as it is warranted.

Roanoke County

Roanoke City

Salem City

Botetourt County

Bedford County

Franklin County

Floyd County

Montgomery County (Bulletin: Asking for 8% salary increase for 2008-2009)

Craig County

· Career earnings for teachers with 30 years experience (2007-2008 Scales)

Roanoke County	77	$1,390,233
Roanoke City	62	1,412,650
Salem City	28	1,524,035
Botetourt County	42	1,480,728
Bedford County	101	1,314,813
Franklin County	44	1,466,950
Floyd County	117	1,277,683
Montgomery County	95	1,344,905
Craig County	86	1,365,161

· BA Benchmark Salaries By Locality 2007-2008

Roanoke County
Min	85	34,500
5 years	74
10 years	71
15 years	79
20 years	84
25 years	46
30 years	68	53,285
Roanoke City
Min	80	34,859
5 years	91
10 years	89
15 years	78
20 years	38
25 years	61
30 years	59	53,928
Salem City
Min	12	39,600
5 years	22
10 years	42
15 years	40
20 years	42
25 years	54
30 years	20	61,185
Botetourt County
Min	87	34,430
5 years	56
10 years	32
15 years	28
20 years	29
25 years	60
30 years	77	52,646
Bedford County
Min	103	33,412
5 years	101
10 years	99
15 years	95
20 years	96
25 years	108
30 years	107	50,110
Franklin County
Min	108	33,000
5 years	103
10 years	80
15 years	10
20 years	22
25 years	48
30 years	82	52,325
Floyd County
Min	90	34,000
5 years	110
10 years	122
15 years	125
20 years	117
25 years	112
30 years	104	50,316
Montgomery County
Min	126	30,968
5 years	107
10 years	93
15 years	89
20 years	86
25 years	84
30 years	96	51,361
Craig County
Min	116	32,065
5 years	97
10 years	76
15 years	74
20 years	60
25 years	67
30 years	48	55,219

· MA Benchmark Salaries by Locality 2007-2008

Roanoke County
Min	98	36,105
5 years	82
10 years	77
15 years	81
20 years	83
25 years	53
30 years	68	55,560
Roanoke City
Min	97	36,159
5 years	105
10 years	102
15 years	87
20 years	49
25 years	60
30 years	64	56,028
Salem City
Min	9	43,005
5 years	19
10 years	35
15 years	35
20 years	37
25 years	44
30 years	18	64,590
Botetourt County
Min	79	37,030
5 years	52
10 years	33
15 years	27
20 years	29
25 years	56
30 years	74	55,246
Bedford County
Min	110	35,083
5 years	110
10 years	108
15 years	99
20 years	98
25 years	103
30 years	103	52,616
Franklin County
Min	105	35,500
5 years	98
10 years	78
15 years	12
20 years	22
25 years	49
30 years	77	55,075
Floyd County
Min	89	36,500
5 years	108
10 years	119
15 years	123
20 years	114
25 years	112
30 years	101	52,816
Montgomery County
Min	124	32,968
5 years	112
10 years	97
15 years	91
20 years	86
25 years	88
30 years	100	53,361
Craig County
Min	121	33,565
5 years	109
10 years	86
15 years	80
20 years	68
25 years	76
30 years	54	56,719

I remember a time when Roanoke County was ranked in the top 30 across the board. It’s also interesting to compare our salaries with Salem. For those who don’t remember, Salem City Schools were born from Roanoke County Schools in the mid 1970’s. It’s interesting to see the direction teacher salaries have gone in each school division.

Make no mistake that our school board is doing a good job trying to win higher salaries for teachers. However, in the county, the board of supervisors hold the purse strings. That coupled with the state sometimes not funding their share of a decent cost of living salary raise puts our locality further and further behind on salaries.

There is more information packed into the VEA research report. I’ll bring that to you in a later blog. Remember to sign the petition and write you legislators!

Daily General Assembly Report

Rob Jones and our very own Doris Boitnott put together these reports during the General Assembly season. Their reports are detailed and fascinating. You must become a regular reader.