Fair and Balanced

Imagine you just walked in to have your hair cut. You sit in the seat as the stylist works miracles with your hair. When all is done, you whip out your wallet and carefully consider a sizable tip in addition to the $20 she charged. When you fork over the money, she stops you.

"No, no...I can't take all that. You need to give $19 to the owner and $1 + tip to me. Sorry :) "

So you walk over to the scowling owner and get a grudging dollar back from your twenty, then you guiltily hand the stylist the $1 bill plus another $2 as a guilt tip.

That's sort of the way education funding works in this country right now.

The Federal government has laid down the rules (aka NCLB-Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The rules are backed by law but not by funding. Typical local school budgets in Virginia only get about 6% of the total annual budget from the Federal government, yet they get about 75% of the regulation from the same source.

This past summer, several Presidential hopefuls addressed the NEA Representative Assembly. Most of them had similar messages. "Testing" and "bubbles" were popular word choices. Yet which would-be President would do the best job for our children and the American public school teacher? Please view this link to determine who you think has the best and clearest vision for public school education.

Candidates Address the NEA

Jeopardy

Let's play a little game of Jeopardy with some information that was unveiled in the latest NEA Report on teacher salary. The numbers reflect a snapshot of last school year across the state and country.

?? $44,727 ??

What is the Virginia average salary for a teacher in the 2006-2007 school year and the amount a RCPS teacher finally surpasses at Step 20 on the 2007-2008 scale.

?? $50,816 ??

What is the national average salary for a teacher in the 2006-2007 school year and the amount a RCPS teacher finally surpasses at Step 23 on the 2007-2008 scale.

?? $6,089 ??

What is the amount that the average teacher salary in Virginia for 2006-2007 was below the 2006-2007 national average teacher salary.

?? $5,408 ??

What is the amount that the 2007-2008 RCPS Step 10 is below the Virginia 2006-2007 state average teacher salary.

?? $11,497 ??

What is the amount that the 2007-2008 RCPS Step 10 is below the 2006-2007 National average teacher salary.

I’ve heard people say that comparing teacher salaries with a state or national average is like trying to hit a moving target. I suppose those people are correct. I would suggest, however, that they take better aim.

Read more about this topic at the VEA website.

?? Balanced 455 ??

What is the RCEA proposal for a three-year salary initiative that will first balance the teacher pay scale so that Step 15 is halfway between Steps 10 and 20. Additionally, the RCEA plan advocates a 4% raise for the coming 2008-2009 school year and then a 5% raise for 2009-2010 and a 5% raise for the 2010-2011 school years. Balanced 455.

Late Fall Special

Late Fall Special

A lot has been going on behind the scenes in RCEA land lately. Coming on the heels of our successful lobbying effort for a full two week winter break in next year’s school calendar, we jumped right into a very thorny issue and a cause.

As teachers and support staff began reviewing recent paychecks, many reported that they had been docked significant sums of money for missing the day before, day after, or day of a national holiday. Policies 5.50 and 5.51 in the RCPS policy manual clearly spell out that an employee will be subject to financial penalty if they take a personal leave day on one of the restricted days. What caught all of these people off guard this time was that the holiday, Columbus Day, was NOT a school holiday. It simply never occurred to these people that the county would penalize them for taking the day before, day after, or day of a holiday that wasn’t a holiday.

After much e-discussion with the personnel office, the RCEA and Mr. Hall, RCPS Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, have worked out language that will clarify the language in policies 5.50 and 5.51. At the School Board meeting on Thursday Dec 13, Mr. Hall will suggest that the words “National Holiday” be stricken from the policies. The revised policy will simply state that if a teacher or support staff member were to use a personal day on the day before, day after, or day of a school holiday, they will forfeit their pay for that day. So the new policy will greatly simplify the issue.

In addition to the policy revision, Mr. Hall is proposing that those teachers and staff members who suffered from this confusing policy interpretation will be fully credited their lost pay.

The other issue that the RCEA is in the process of tackling is our salary proposal for the upcoming school year. Our salary committee is made up of Thom Ryder, Sarah Hollett, Jennifer Burke, Sara Cann, and Judd Fredstrom with valuable advice coming from our Uniserv Director, Pat Wood.

This year the county is opening up the budget process to schools, groups, and organizations within the county system. An invitation for budget proposals was sent out by Assistant Superintendent of Finance/Budget, Penny Hodge. Proposals are due to her office by Dec 14, and all groups and individuals will be given an opportunity to present a case for their proposal before the full School Board on Jan 3.

After much debate and discussion, our salary committee is putting the final touches on our salary plan. We have noted, through meticulous research by Judd Fredstrom, that pay for Roanoke County teachers has been slipping in relation to the actual cost of living in our area by a significant amount over the last seven years. In addition, the relative standing of teacher salaries, in comparison with pay in neighboring school systems, remains in the middle of the pack (generally 3^{rd out of 8 divisions}).

One issue that doesn’t get recognized by most people is that it takes a teacher in Roanoke County a very long time to realize real, positive salary growth. For example, it takes a teacher about 20 years to make it to the halfway point on the scale. Logic would dictate that the halfway point should be reached after about 15 years of service. That’s also about the time when teachers in Roanoke County make it to the state average teacher pay. Most other area localities reach that point well earlier in a teacher’s career.

We will propose a long-term approach to improving salaries in RCPS. For the coming school year, we feel justified in asking that the scale be adjusted one time in such a way that a teacher will reach the mid point of the pay scale at the mid point of their career. One way to look at that is to make sure that step 15 is halfway between step 10 and 20. Judd has crunched the numbers and has figured that the scale can be effectively realigned for well less than a million dollars ($1 million=approx 1% pay raise). Some teachers will receive more of a bump than others in this realignment. In addition to that realignment, we propose that all teachers and staff receive a 4% increase in their pay after the realignment. In each of the following two school budget years, we also propose a 5% pay raise across the board to teachers and staff.

We will lobby hard for these proposals and will work closely with the school board and the central office budget staff to make our plan a reality. We would appreciate your support.

Finally, I bring you the State of the County Address by Supervisor Chairman Joe McNamara. In that address, Mr. McNamara said, “While the Commonwealth is experiencing a 1.2% revenue shortfall (less than the 25 year average shortfall of 1.4%), the County reported a 3.5% surplus of revenues over projection.” Mr. McNamara finished his address with this quote from Harry S. Truman, “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”

The RCEA is working to change things for the better.

RCPS Draft Calendar

RCPS Draft 2008-2009 Calendar Released

The school office has released a draft version of the 2008-2009 calendar this week, and in it the major request of the RCEA was dealt with positively. The calendar still must be formally be adopted by the School Board.

The RCEA Calendar Committee had asked that the school board consider building in a full two week winter break instead of having the last day before break be December 23. The Committee realized that with the calendar already compressed that it would be difficult to find the two days to trade-off. The RCEA suggested that the two days be placed at the beginning of the school year allowing for a partial week start of the school year for teachers and students.

Mr. Journell has chosen a different route to manufacture the two days. The school board was very clear in their public meetings that they wanted school to open August 25 and end by June 8. One highlight of the compromise is that the school board will allow for teachers to take a work day at home on Martin Luther King Jr Day. Schools will be open for teachers who need to get into buildings to work on grades if needed.

Overall, the RCEA Calendar Committee is well pleased with the compromise offered by Mr. Journell and the School Board.

You can view the draft calendar by visiting this link

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pSXYU-zAWPenUvcowT4VxUw

Now let’s move on to our salary concerns…

A Day in the Life

A Commentary

A Day in the Life

I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Without a doubt, this song by Lennon and McCartney has always been one of my top five favorite Beatle tunes. Like many of you, I grew up learning the words to all of the Beatle songs. I can’t say I ever really gave them thoughtful consideration, I just knew that they were loads of fun to sing. This song was no different. It sure was fun to sing, “Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.” Yet as I’ve grown older, this verse comes back to me more and more as something other than just a rhythmically clever collection of syllables. It speaks to how we can sometimes get stuck in counting the ordinary and expected instead of acting for positive change. At least, that what it tells me today.

Making your way in the world today is getting harder and harder. I suppose I don’t have to tell any of you that. Gas prices have spiked into uncharted territory. Food prices, in tandem, have jumped as well. Milk is $4.00 a gallon. The prices of cheese and meat have recently spiked as well. There seems to be no end to these economic pressures in sight.

As teachers, support, and staff members, our jobs haven’t gotten any easier. In fact, they are exponentially more complex today than they were just ten years ago. SOL pressures cast their knot of anxiety over us all, but other issues have also crept into our daily lives. Children today need so much more from us from basic health and nutrition services to education needs. So many more children come to school with insufficient preparation. The population of children we serve is rapidly evolving with more and more children coming to us from fractured homes and incomplete families. The challenges that face all of us are scary and exhausting.

Precisely for those reasons, our positions in the community and school system have become even more vital. It is our contention at the RCEA that our educator compensation packages should reflect our important roles in the community. At all levels in the education program and in all classifications, we should be receiving benefits and compensation that are tops in the region and comparable to colleagues in the country.

Over the years, I’ve taught in several school districts. In one district I remember becoming frustrated every budget cycle. In times when tax revenues were tight, teachers were told that since the locality needed to tighten their financial belts, we’d have to fore go even the most basic cost of living salary increases. We were promised that when revenues returned to normal, we’d get back on track. Predictably, when revenue returned to normal, two things happened. The local supervisors would cut the tax rate and the school board would divert salary monies to build a needed school or other facilities. I’ll never forget being told in meetings, “Well you have to make a decision here…what do you want, more money or a needed elementary school?” Instead of rightfully placing that burden on the community, the schools and facilities were built on the backs of the teachers. I’ve never forgotten that.

I’ve begun to hear a similar argument whispered here in Roanoke County. The implication is that if teachers and staff are to get salary and benefit reform, then some hard choices will have to be made. What are we as teachers willing to give up? Are we willing to give up technology? The ActivBoard program in elementary schools? Low teacher/pupil class sizes? School nurses in elementary schools? Elementary Art/Music programs?

In each case, my reply is that I’m not willing to give up anything that is right and good for the children, and I’m not willing to give up on proper compensation and benefits. Instead of directing these types of questions internally, the school system, with our important and valued input, needs to be defining exactly what we need in order to run a first class educational program in these challenging times. Our locality already does much more than most in providing a wide variety of non-state supported services, and they should be commended for that support, but there is still so much more that needs to be done.

Once we’ve identified our real and justified needs, the supervisors should be presented with those reasoned and supported requests. It may be that the supervisors will have to look deep into their pockets and even seek additional revenue to assist the school system in maintaining and excelling as a division.

One thing that I can never accept is to be told that employees have to decide between compensation, valued programs, and needed facilities. Such an approach only ensures, at best, the maintenance of the status quo and at worst the erosion of the entire program. It’s like counting the holes in Blackburn Lancashire to find out how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Thom Ryder

RCEA President

Calendar News

Calendar Update

An Open Letter to RCEA Members

The calendar committee met on Tuesday, October 30. There were several items considered. Overall the RCEA Calendar Committee members (exec board at-large reps) felt that Central Office had done a good job with the proposal they made. For instance, there were no conference days scheduled on Wednesdays and for the first time in memory, Roanoke County has been allowed to use bank days as the first 3 snow days instead of using make up days. After the first 3 days are used, we will be alternating make up days with bank days to use the other 2 bank days if necessary. Also, Good Friday will be part of our spring break as it is proposed that spring break fall on the week prior to Easter.

There is one area that we as a committee and hopefully you as RCEA members would like to see changed.

We have the opportunity, for the first time in many years, to be able to have a full 2 weeks of winter break. As the calendar proposal currently stands we would begin school on Monday, August 25 at the suggestion of the school board. Our winter break would begin on Wednesday December 24, Christmas Eve. We would return to school on Monday, January 5.

This schedule offers several concerns/opportunities. First, by beginning on the August 25, we would have a full week in school on the first week. In the past this has been considered difficult for both teachers and students returning from summer break. Second and most importantly, Monday, December 22 and Tuesday, December 23 would be wasted days for instruction in our calendar. With our responsibilities, and level of accountability as teachers constantly rising, we need every day in school to be productive or at least potentially productive. Common sense would dictate that the 2nd and 3rd days before Christmas would be academically unproductive at best.

The calendar committee, along with others present at the RCPS Calendar Committee meeting, have proposed that school begin 2 days earlier in August, thereby addressing each of these concerns.

If we begin on Thursday, August 21, we would have a partial week for the first week of school which would facilitate orientation and acclimation activities. We could then change December 22 and 23 to break days, preserving our instructional integrity and perhaps a bit more of our sanity.

RCEA will present this idea to the school board during citizen’s comments at the Thursday school board meeting.

Just letting you know what’s going on in the world of calendar creation. If you are in need of further information, please let one of us know.

Good luck and take care,

Tim Summers

RCEA Elementary Representative

Sheila Salisbury

RCEA Middle School Representative

Sara Cann

RCEA High School Representative

Not All Roses

Not All Roses

I attended a marathon Roanoke County Board of Supervisors meeting this afternoon and evening at the old Southview Elementary. It began at 3 pm and ended at 10:24 pm with a break for dinner somewhere in the middle. I’ll share my notes from that meeting tomorrow or the next day, but I suspect that by the time you read this you will have already heard or read about this meeting.

Late in the evening, a verbal confrontation erupted between Chairman Joe McNamara and a citizen who rose to speak in the public comment section of the meeting. Actually, Joe did more receiving than giving, as was his role. Joe listened respectfully as the man brought up issues about which he was concerned. Then the man began to direct his comments toward Butch Church, who is running for re-election. His comments were stinging, angry, political, and pointed. McNamara interrupted the man and asked him to stop his attack. He managed to inform the man that he must address his remarks to the board chair and not individual board members. McNamara was firm, yet in control.

As the confrontation de-escalated, I felt bad for the board members, all five of them. As a teacher, I’ve been on the wrong end of “conversations” like that one before. You feel trapped because you really want to shout back, but it’s not your place to do that. It takes incredible patience and self-control to maintain a sense of professionalism when you are being blasted. Whenever that happens to me, I always end up singing that ole Johnny Paycheck hit in my head, “Well you can take this job and shove it; I ain’t workin’ here no more.” Then a day or so later, I usually am buoyed by something a kid does to lift my spirits.

For those brief moments, I felt an unusual kinship with that elected board. I hope that feeling doesn’t pass. The adverse situation dropped their shields of invulnerability and unveiled their fragility. Frankly, it made them more human and respected in my eyes.

More later…