Last night's budget worksession took a surprising turn when the Superintendent proposed to the Board that we freeze all salaries in the proposed budget, and reinstate most other recommended budget cuts, many of which would have cut positions. He said this after meeting with other Virginia Superintendents and finding none who were planning a pay raise.
Our Board, which in December voted to increase salaries instead of preserve jobs, did a prompt about-face, endorsing the Superintendent's proposal. This only changes the look of the proposed budget cuts above 10%, the level at which level the pay freeze was already scheduled. In another reversal, the Board voted not to increase out-of-network health insurance deductibles for employees. Copayment increases remain.
Other decisions were made in a long series of votes over the course of more than two hours. I didn't take notes and can't report all the details.
Frozen pay + increased copays and premiums = a pay cut.
ReplyDeleteAnd at the same time I hear that some ADMIN folks will get pay raises by having their positions upgraded to higher levels.
Seems like the wrong time to be doing that.
Aren't we still considered the richest county in the US? We should at least be able assure employees that they will not take home LESS next year than they did this year.
Isn't this another reason why a new school adminstration is needed??? Is Hatrick so clueless that he really did not know other jurisdictions were not giving raises? Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteKatie must be a teacher. Guess what, Katie, these are the same challenges facing nearly every other American this year. Suck it up and get used to it. Or would you rather myself and every other taxpayer coough up even more in taxes to keep you in a raise?
Katie, I am assuming you are a teacher like myself. If so, do what many of us do...work only our contract hours. In other words, no lesson planning, grading, or phone calls after contract hours. I don't do any after-school activities...why should I? Whatever I get done during the school day is fine...the rest will be there waiting for me the next day. Also, I enjoy all the holidays off, the extended vacations all the time...not to mention the 6-7 weeks off in the summer. Not bad. By the way LI..this is sarcasm (kind of).
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that either this year or another year, LI and all taxpayers will have to pay to continue the quality of education in Loudoun. So, I may not get a "raise" this year...but eventually it will be time to pay up...so I can continue with all my vacations!
Both LI and Katie make good points. I am stunned, like LI, to learn Hatrick had not already factored in a pay freeze. Increasing class sizes and laying off classroom teachers HAS TO be the absolute, last resort to dealing with the budget crisis. As the editorial in this morning's Post Loudoun section points out, there are many operational inefficiencies that need to be addressed before our core educational system needs to be displaced. And as Katie points out, we are one of the wealthiest counties in the country, and we should be able to handle this.
ReplyDeleteThe problem stems from Loudoun asipring to have a Fairfax-style education system without the (somewhat onerous) Fairfax-style tax system. I was raised most of my life here in LoCo and didn't need high-faltuin' whiteboards and fancy gadgets (much less air conditioning) to give me the strong foundation of learning that has gotten me to where I am today. The strongest influences on my life were a few of my teachers. So let's pony up and take care of our greatest resource - our teachers. Pay them well, whether you cut wasteful spending or charge our affluent county just a little bit more. But either way, for God's sake, don't take it out on our children and new teachers by increasing the classroom herds and laying off our next generation of great teachers. All of us will have to sacrifice to keep Loudoun schools strong.