Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 9 · column 4 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
a good sign. It alwayd denotes the declining enrollment which threatens his job. The Falls Church tax base is made up of a disproportionate number of senior citizens, Klass explains. The children of those parents who were so active during the ’50s have grown up and moved away because the city can’t grow to offer housing for a new generation.
Since everyone likes to stay, Klass is still the junior member of the English department and could face a “RIF” if enrollment falls further.
Yet he likes his rapport with the community. “Over a long time you form a sense of community not available in a (larger) city,” he says. Five of the seven school board members had children in his classes at one time or another, a fact which makes it easier for him to deal with them as the teachers’ chief bargaining agent.
“But like all teachers, we’re still fighting for money,” he says. Klass says he makes about $30,000 per year, but works a 60-75 hour week to do it. He coaches the wrestling team and is advisor for the school newspaper. As an English teacher in a school where writing skills are stressed, he assigns two papers a week for each of the 22-23 students in each class, which gives him a “high paper load” of homework to correct.
Klass adds that “housing is incredibly expensive” in the Falls Church area, nearly impossible to find within the city limits. So the apparently high salary doesn’t go far, Klass says. He and his wife and three children live in a small house with a wood stove. “Actual expenses are high and taxes We a killer in the county,” he says, summing up the universal plight of teachers.
86.3%