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To the editor:
This is an open letter to the Rappahannock County School Board and all residents of Rappahannock County.
Last fall the people of this state voted for a new Governor, Charles Robb. One of his campaign promises was to appropriate funds so that teachers in this state would get an average $3000 pay raise. He noted that the surrounding states have higher pay scales than Virginia and this was drawing many good teachers away from the state.
Much to my surprise Governor Robb was able to get an increase in the amount of basic aid which the State gives to local school systems. When the General Assembly' voted for this increase they recommended the majority of it to be used to help give localities the ability to give their teachers a pay raise. This was not meant to be the entire pay raise the teachers should receive. The State Board of Education recommended that the local School Boards in this state give their teachers a 10 percent salary increase. Both of these items brought joy to our local school teachers who felt that we would get a substantial cost of living increase in our salaries.
The Rappahannock County Education Association (RCEA) made a proposal to the board that an indexed salary scale with a 10.4 percent increase at the base be approved for the next school year. Please notice that the RCEA proposed this scale. Teachers in the state of Virginia cannot negotiate for a pay scale, they can only recommend what they feel they deserve.
They also asked for a duty free lunch and planning period, a sick leave pool, and full major medical for the individual.
The most important of these is probably the indexed salary scale. The present salary scale system does not provide the teacher with any incentive to return to the school system the following year. The local Board of Education simply decides what it feels was the inflation rate the year before and adds this percentage to the teachers' present salaries. This means that the teacher has no more buying power at the end of his-her career than they did at the beginning.
This is a dismal future for career oriented teacher just starting out in the world. An indexed salary scale on the other hand provides that if the base keeps pace with
93.5%