Monday, November 30, 2009

Will the Board Set Budget Priorities?

Author:
Two weeks ago the Board met and considered setting budget guidance to the Superintendent. This was done for the first time last year, with mixed results. I believe the guidance should be updated, but I had the feeling that the rest of the Board would just as soon not try again. To my surprise, we tabled the motion until this meeting because the hour had grown late. We take the question up again tonight. here is my take:

In my opinion last year's goals are no longer appropriate for our situation.

1. Preserve and support existing academic programs designed to promote student achievement.
At a minimum, we should modify the goal to reflect our commitment to proven methods by changing “designed” to “proven.” While this is a good goal, some members last year felt it was too restrictive to academic programs. One possibility is to restate it this way:
Preserve core programs and staffing levels to prepare students for the next stage of their growth.
2. Provide an adequate compensation package to employees including, if possible, both a step increase and some degree of a COLA.

Last year we were not able to provide either a step increase or a COLA, and soon after adopting this goal abandoned it for a no-RIF goal. It is difficult to imagine that either is possible in the current environment. I suggest the following instead:
Retain all difficult-to-fill positions and uniquely skilled personnel.

3. Minimize increases in class size.

My concern with this is that it is not an outcome-based position. According to the studies Dr. Hatrick has cited to us, class sizes can increase without detrimental impact to most students. Minimizing class size increases temporarily may result in elimination of other positions and programs that have an actual impact on achievement. Additionally, it is unlikely that class sizes will not be increased significantly, and it is not a good practice to adopt goals that we know we can't meet.

4. Maximize operational efficiency.

This goal is too broad to be effective. The data show that LCPS is operationally efficient at a system-wide level. The Board should specify specific areas of efficiency in which we expect to see improvements:
Reduce the use of consumable materials in instruction, administration and communications. Reduce or postpone purchases wherever possible.

5. Expand the use of user fees.

The Superintendent proposed, and the Board accepted, significant user fees in FY10. For FY11:
Implement or increase user fees only for optional programs that would otherwise be eliminated.

6. Seek savings in the areas of non-school based funding, recruitment, and non-academic programs.

I can stand by this final goal as written.

Update at 8:34pm: The Board rejected this approach in favor of directing the Superintendent to make his budget conform to the School Board's 38 adopted goals.
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49 comments:

  1. I am disappointed that you do not think salaries are a priority. If the SB does nothing for the staff's salaries they will be stagnet now for two years. That is reprehensible. Salaries should be one of the top priorities. Cutting fat at the county office should be a priority. There are entirely too many assistants to the supervisors. The supervisors of the academic areas should be able to handle the job by themselves in this economy we have today. Cut those EMRTs and social studies and science assistants. They are not needed! Come on, look at your home base for some cuts... Some programs need to be looked at to eliminate now... it is time to act... small schools should be closed...
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  2. Take a look at fles and SAMs. Many parents and students are not fond of these programs. Fles teachers do not write plans, grade papers, or give grades. SAMs takes away valuable time from language arts classes. I teach at the secondary level and see no difference in mastery of the language or performance of students who have been in these programs and those who have not.

    Profe
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  3. agree with the comment on fles (Spanish in elementary) and SAMS (Spanish in middle school) These programs need to go. I have watched these classes in action and have seen the kids not paying attention and not participating. They do not readily recall what was "taught" from one class to the next. Spending 30 minutes twice a week is NOT learning the language. If you want them to really learn it they need full immersion. This hour every week could be spent on teaching the core subjects that they need to move on to the challenges of middle and high school. I would rather have my 6th grader proficient in English. There is other fluff that can be eliminated too.
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  4. Salaries are not a priority in this economy. The rest of the world is taking pay cuts, losing their jobs and can't find work. The cost of everything is going up and salaries are not, so in effect, we all take a pay cut every year. We don't have money for new and desperately needed schools. Teachers in Loudoun make more money than most areas of the country. Pay raises for teachers, even though they work very hard (just like the rest of us), have to be very low priority.

    And, it never ceases to amaze me that people will choose a profession to "make a difference" because "it's not about the money". Two years in and suddenly, "it's about the money". Even though they studied for years to pursue a profession that is legendary for mediocre pay, I should now feel sorry for them because they reached their goal.
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  5. I am so sick and tired of people saying teachers chose to be "poor". That is basically what one of these comments say. Yes, Loudoun teachers receive pay higher than most. However, Loudoun teachers teach in the wealthiest counties in the United States and live in one of the most expensive places in which to live. We have to have teachers to teach our children. YOU should want to get the best and pay for what you get. It is a tough economy and I am sure the teacher of LCPS will weather the storm of not receiving a step or pay raise for another year. They will do a wonderful job in educating YOUR children and grandchildren. Nonetheless, my comments about salaries being a priority still stands. Along with salaries staying stagnet, some programs need to be eliminated as well.
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  6. Educating our children is what a teacher signs on to do when they make this career choice. Are you suggesting that teachers be rewarded as though educating the children is going above and beyond the teaching task?

    Teachers provide services that are vital, just like so many other services provided by other Loudoun Co residents. People should feel fortunate to not only be working but be working in their chosen field at this point. Now is not the time to make yourself the squeaky wheel.

    I chose a profession in college that I realized after college didn't support me the way I wanted to live. I picked up a second job while I was training for a career in a new field where I now work. I didn't try to change my original field's pay scale. But hey, that's just me.
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  7. Losing good teachers because we are not offering a competitive wage and benefit package compared with the school districts around us doesn't benefit the children or the school district.
    I would like to see some info on FLES, my child is a fifth grader and I had higher hopes for his level of competence after this amount of exposure. Although, I'd trade fles for an instrument/band program in 4th & 5th grades.
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  8. Salaries are not a priority and neither are benefits. Teachers have short memories of all the great pay raises of recent years. Wasn't it in 2006 that teachers got an average 12% pay raise? Not only that but they have maintained a ridiculously great benefits package - the cost of which has been passed on to the taxpayers. This year Hatrick wants to pass on a $20 million increase in the pension fund payment! The number one priority should be purging this entitlement mentality.
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  9. A step for teachers every year is standard in most states. I wouldn't ask for a raise but we deserve our step for each successful year of teaching. That 12% increase was to put us on par with Fairfax. I've been teaching in Loudoun for over a decade and each year more and more has been asked of us from administrators and parents.

    Profe
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  10. Remember teachers are paying fees for their children to participate in school activities, pay taxes, buy food, pay daycare-- all the same expenses everyone else has. Teachers are also using THEIR OWN money to buy classroom supplies and other things for YOUR children. They are working far more hours than they are contracted for with regards to planning, grading papers, meeting with parents etc. A step increase is minimal but it does offset some of this.Teachers are an important comdity- without good teachers everyone loses. There are many other programs that can be done away with to help defer this expense. And to the person who basically says "you got into this knowing you would not get paid well" I offer you this, teachers don't want to make millions of dollars, they just want to live and provide for their families. Is that too much to ask?
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  11. "That 12% increase was to put us on par with Fairfax" Yeah, that's the standard excuse. There will always be some school system that pays more, so there will always be a "need" to raise salaries. Sure, teachers deserve raises like anyone else, but not during difficult economic times and at the expense of some taxpayer who has lost her job or been forced to take a large pay cut. As I recall, there were no layoffs at LCPS last year. You should consider yourselves very lucky.
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  12. A "step" increase (raise for nothing) is ridiculous in this (or any other) economy. A quick road to mediocrity.

    This sort of entitlement attitude has helped get this county and this country into this mess in the first place. Look around, nobody is doing well these days and nobody is getting "step" increases in the "real world" so why should teachers? Everybody else is happy to have a job at all. Like the rest of the world, your career choice must pay the bills to your personal satisfaction. If your career choice doesn't, it's probably time to move on. And if you need "step" increases, it's time to move on to unionized factory work or perhaps a government job?
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  13. Preservation of jobs should be the schools system's and school board's priority. I agree 100% with a previous comment that if we need to cut some positions, let's look at the school admin. building and the many assistants to assistants as well as many other positions that no ones knows what they do. We also need to immediatley cut out all paid "consultans" to the school system, many of whom make big-bucks. Looking in actual schools for possible job cuts makes no sense. It short changes our kids and we'd be hiring right back in a year or two. The school system, if cuts need to be made, needs to get serious and look at "overhead" positions first and foremost.
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  14. The teachers of LCPS HAVE taken a paycut... the cost of benefits have increased (copays, prescriptions, etc..) while the salaries have not increased. They are being asked to raise test scores, even with an increase in class sizes and less available resources. The substitute budget was cut so that there will not be enough substitutes to cover teachers when they are sick or have sick family members. Sick days are part of their benefits and should be honored. Students will ultimately be the ones to suffer if the budget cuts are passed this time. Loudoun County is one of the wealthiest counties with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States. There is no reason we cannot trim unnecessary fat at the administration building and fund the schools so that they can continue to be successful.
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  15. Many good points have been made. But let me just offer up one more. You get what you pay for. How many good teachers have been lost due to, as one of our previous intelligent commenters mentioned, realizing they couldn't make it sucking it up and going back to school for a better paying job. Now that having been said if you get what you pay for, and you don't pay much what do you get? That's right, you can figure it out. Furthermore, I simply suggest public school become par with private institutions offering the same services...well we have daycare which would raise the average teacher salary to a little under 100K a year, or if you prefer we can institute private school tuitions around 10 or 20k per student. Heck then all you poor Loudoun County residents wouldn't have to pay those pesky property taxes on your mansions and BMW's.
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  16. I'm surprised to hear so many people opposed to a step increase in pay. This amounts to a cost of living pay increase; it's not a raise. This is one of the most expensive areas to live in, teachers need to be able to support themselves. There are already an abundance of teachers who commute from west Virginia so they can live in affordable housing and make a decent salary. How many of you work for nothing? Will continue working without recieving a yearly pay increase to cover cost of living increases or your quarterly bonus? More and more responsibilities are being placed on teachers shoulders. Those of you who say 'They chose this career....' are wrong in that much has changed over the years. Teaching is not simply 'teaching' anymore. Why continue in the field then? Well, teachers who want to leave will need to be retrained in some other field; will have to start at the bottom in a new field and will probably end up making less money after paying back loans for retraining and starting at the bottom.

    And, I haven't read anything anywhere that leads me to believe teachers are looking for sympathy, so you don't have to feel sorry for them, anonymous. Just recognize the many contributions they make and pay accordingly.
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  17. Well said... anyone who thinks teachers don't deserve at least the minimal cost of living increase have not spent enough time in the classroom lately. PLEASE come see what they do on a daily basis before you voice your opinion on the teaching profession and what they "deserve" to get.
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  18. Parents need to know what exactly they are talking about doing to the budget... cutting teachers, cutting teaching assistants, increasing class sizes (most elementary classes already have 25+ students in them), cutting substitutes (your children will be taught by unqualified personnel or be shuffled to different classes when the teacher takes a sick day), delaying technology upgrades, etc...
    If the PARENTS don't get involved and go to the budget hearings to voice their concerns, the budget is going to be drastically cut which means the education that you want your children to receive will be negatively affected.
    The school board and board of supervisors don't listen to the school personnel. They listen to the parents, so start complaining!
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  19. I have written a new post about teacher salaries. Please continue the discussion there.
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  20. An interesting fact that many are ignoring is the fact that LCPS currently ranks second to last out of all DC area school systems (including Maryland and Northern VA). If any more cuts, or even not offering a COLA or step to teachers will place Loudoun dead last.


    This is going to cause the highly qualified teachers to leave Loudoun for areas that financially support their hard work. Wouldn't you move to another job to perform very similar tasks for a significant boost in income? We are going to see a significant increase in the number of Loudoun teachers leaving the county for better positions unless something is done on behalf of the school board and BOS.


    I want to see the quality of education remain in Loudoun, and would happily pay more taxes to see that happen. Sure you can compare Loudoun salaries to salaries 'in other places' but that applies to all fields. If you teach in a rural area, your pay will be less on average than in a more populated area due to the difference in performance standards. Comparing teachers in Loudoun to lets just say rural Kentucky is not even close to a decent comparison.


    Take another major metro area like NY or NJ. If you compare the cost of living there versus Loudoun, you will find the cost of houses are almost completely identical. Taxes are far less here, and those of you complaining about taxes being too high need a reality check. You already pay extremely low taxes in comparison to other major metro areas around the US, so stop your complaining. I would assume that it will be the same people complaining now about the taxes being too high that will complain down the road if that tax rate is kept and a severe reduction in services is offered.


    I would like to see teachers offered their step increase for their years of service that our community has let them down. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you want to give your time and effort to a place where your work was not appreciated? It is time our BOS and SB did something about this, and actually fought for the future of our county and country by investing in education.
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  21. I would like to know when the last time a school board member sat in today's classroom. How about our Board of Supervisors?

    What about all the naysayers in the group? I believe some people voice their opinions on matters they have very little knowledge about.

    For instance, I am not a lawyer. Therefore, I will not tell anyone in the legal field how to manage their job. Maybe if those naysayers would see the teachers at work in the schools, then they would realize how our teachers meet increasingly more difficult demands, and do so with a pleasant demeanor.

    From someone that HAS seen the high quality of education in Loudoun, I FULLY support our teachers, and want them get the financial compensation they have earned by faithfully serving our community.
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  22. I fully support teacher raises.

    I am keeping track of the School Board members and the Board of Supervisors and how they vote in these matters. Those that do not support the needs of our community will not be earning my vote come time for re-election.
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  23. As a Loudoun county speical educator, I can attest to the high quality of professionals in this area. Like many of you, I've lived all over the country and in 2other countries (as a civilian, not atached to any government or military occupation). The quality of teachers I see here is the highest I've ever seen. There is no excess in the classroom - gen ed or special ed. Most of the students I work with require one on one assistance to complete any task. With just myself and one assistant in the class room, it's impossible to provide that level of service. Instead of parents calling me or my principal to complain about their child's lack of progress, they should contact the BOS and SB members and complain.
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  24. It is important for the community to know the actual truth of the wages matter. For some reason everyone thinks Loudoun teachers get paid above other teachers. They do not. Loudoun County pays its teachers less, LESS, than eight out of the nine regional public school districts. Yet we still have some of the finest teachers working here. LCPS was once a beacon of education and the more we allow our great teachers to leave and go to close counties to work (not for greed but to simply be able to afford to live in Loudoun, teach with the support of their community and have resources to be able to do their job effectively) the further we will fall. I am deeply concerned with how some Loudouners really do not seem to value education. Maybe your children have already finished school here, when LCPS was one of the best, and so you do not wish to contribute to your neighbors’ children's education?
    I find it embarrassing to see how we treat our teachers compared to neighboring counties.
    We should support them not fight them.
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  25. Here are two ideas that can save a lot of money in the budget. They are consumption driven, for the extra resources that do not benefit all students in the county.

    The basic idea is to create more self-sustaining components of the school budget.

    The school cafeterias are self-sustaining, recouping costs from families who consume school provided food. Free and reduced meals are provided to the needy.

    1) A sizable portion of the budget is used for the school bus system. It is time that Loudoun looks at charging a fee for students to ride the bus. At least some portion of the cost should be absorbed by the consumer of this non-classroom expense item. The same rules that apply to free and reduced lunch could apply to bus fees.

    2) Keeping the four small schools open is a large expense for small return to the county. It directly benefits a small group of vocal peopel. It diverts resources away from all other schools and programs. The cost per pupil in these schools is excessive. They either need to close, or if the vocal parents from these schools want them schools to remain open perhaps they would be willing to become charter schools. Set them up to pay a tuition fee for the costs in excess of the average cost per pupil for the rest of the county.
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  26. Teachers are having trouble paying their taxes, keeping their houses and even feeding their families. Many of us carry 2 or more educational degrees plus master's degrees. Our salaries have NOT kept up with the economy so we are among the working poor. Contrary to popular belief, we are not wives of men with great jobs. Without raises, our lives are crumbling before our eyes. We cry about it we talk about it, we share our stories. We entered teaching to give, but also be able to live.
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  27. As for SMALL SCHOOLS SHOULD BE CLOSED, when the numbers are crunched, keeping them open is cheaper than the transportation to schools further away. #300 K to keep Middleburg Elementary open. MORE than that to bus children up to 45 minutes away to the CLOSEST "big" school.

    Educate yourself on the facts.
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  28. Well said both comments above...

    Some of us are not wives at all but husbands, trying to provide for our families. My wife and I are both dedicated teachers to LCPS and have been for some time now. When you compare our household income to the average Loudoun household we fall below it. We have to give more of our time to help the children we work with, which we don't mind because we became teachers to teach. However, the red tape that teachers have to do these days basically leaves us no time to spend with each other or our child. We do not get paid for these hours; we will deal with the situations ahead of us. To be honest all we would like is a little bit of recognition from some of the community for what we actually do. We are counselors, psychiatrists, nurses, friends, care givers, parents, caterers, social workers, family planners and much more...oh yes and we teach too. Times are hard and we will all feel the pinch, there will be cuts but if the county goes with a bare budget plan then maybe, although it pains me to say it, we should work to a bare bones budget.
    Loudoun has reduced the support to teachers while adding more and more expectancy. As teachers we have sucked it up and got on with it, this is why the county still has a good educational system.
    Maybe it is time Loudoun saw what would really happen if we worked as little as some people think we do and just completed our contracted hours.
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  29. I'm so tired of hearing about the poor teachers of Loudoun County, like they are the only ones that keep the schools open. What about all of the support people that clean the schools, keep the lights on, keep the electricity running, keep all of the "needed" technology up and working, keep the children fed, get the kids to and from schools. I never hear one teacher talk about the "poor" support staffs that keep the schools running. And guess what, they make less than the teachers and work 3 more months a year to boot!
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  30. To anyone who says a step increase is rewarding mediocrity get a grip. EVERY single year I teach I give my all. Every year I become a better teacher for the new experiences, so your answer is to enable our salaries to plunge in regards to the community we live in and basically do charity work and live poor?

    Step increases give us credit for life experience. That is worth a heck of a lot more than the value of a step raise.
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  31. I see some people proud to have more chosen a more lucrative profession than teaching. Good for them! Please bring your checkbook to the school board meeting when demanding service for Jr and Missy.

    It is quite discouraging to see the bloggers here criticize teachers for wanting better compensation because they made a noble choice of public service.

    These same parents so proud of their financial achievements seem quite content to reproduce, and create a public expense for everyone else to pay. They are also quite content to say it is all about the children, and we want the best public education possible.

    They trumpet the call to excellence and at the same time they:

    - Want to dumb down the grading scale so Jr or Missy can get into Harvard,
    - Eliminate supervisors, their assistants, and specialists who act as catalyst for change and improvement of our teachers. Yes teachers do need to change and evolve like everyone in society as we all better ourselves, and need to look for best practices.
    - Want to keep open the four charming small clubhouse schools that consume excessive resources, and double the per pupil cost.
    - Don't want user fees, bus fees, activity, or any other fees for resources consumed by Jr or Missy.
    - But most of all they want the county to keep taxes low.

    The easiest ways to accomplish these narrow and self-serving objectives is to squeeze the teachers and administrators, cut their benefits, raise their insurance fees and copays, increase class size and workload, and demand extra services from teachers and administrators after hours for free. And ‘Oh, by the way, please make sure that you treasure Jr and Missy as much as we do.”

    Where is all that personal pride in what you make and who you are when it comes to paying for the resources your children consume?
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  32. Regarding teachers having it "good," we are only paid for 7.5 hours per day. In reality we HAVE to attend meetings we are not paid for (Once a week at my school for up to 3 hours.), festivals, school functions, etc.

    In addition, I know of not a single teacher that can get all the required work done in 7.5 hours per day, so anything over that is a "freebie."

    It's hard to do paperwork when you are actively engaging the students in meaningful learning experiences.
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  33. I think everyone should go to the LCPS budget and check out how much money is spent on salaries at the admin level. These people are very highly paid, do not directly deal with the students or parents, and probably have no idea what a teacher goes through on a daily basis. I work in a school, and can tell you that while teachers chose to teach, no formal education prepared them for what they do.
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  34. Salaries are not a priority? These people choose to be TEACHERS, not POOR. That is ridiculous and a sad, sorry excuse.
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  35. Loudoun County has four schools with each school having an enrollment of about 125. So, LCPS pays for upkeep, utilities, transportation, and salaries to provide a private school education at the expense of my child's education? So before the BOS or SB reduces the budget in areas that would greatly effect many, many students, I think that closing those 4 schools would be money well saved. I understand what an emotional issue this is, but as the BOS has approved so much of the growth that this county has experienced causing the need for so many more services, they need to stand up to the western parents who want the "poor" residents of Eastern Loudoun to pay the price for their private education.
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  36. As an employee of LCPS, here are some ideas for cutting the budget:

    Eliminate the FLES and SAM programs. They can take a foreign language program of their choosing in 7th grade.

    Elimate or make itinerate all those positions that are there to "teach the teacher". EMRTs, and TRTs come to mind. Didn't the teachers already get educated?

    Reduce the ELL budget. The non English speakers should learn English, but why does the county have to pay for it? Perhaps if the parents had to pay for that service just like kids have to pay to play sports, park a car or take a test, they would work harder to teach their children or would relocate to another location that can afford the expense.

    Stop feeding parents to get them to come to meetings. Stop feeding employees to attend meetings.

    And yes, the ever popular, close the small schools. Cost per child too high.
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  37. Some of the comments here coming from LCPS teachers and employees are kind of humorous if not truly sad.

    The last post about cutting out a variety of specialists who teach the teachers, and getting rid of language education shows some fairly narrow thinking. If we were among the top performers on international testing in math and science I think you might be able to make the case that change is not needed. But that is not the case. To eliminate change agent specialties in our school system is just backwards thinking. Could you imagine a world where Intel closed their R&D department once they made the fist PC with two floppy drives?

    For a teacher (or staff member) to think that there is no room for growth once they have achieved a passing SOL score in their classroom is also truly sad. Where is the desire: to achieve more; to stimulate our children’s minds; to get themselves and their students to a higher level of thinking, reasoning, and understanding?

    Teachers need to be actively looking to embrace best practices and new ways of engaging students in critical thinking at earlier ages. Our students are growing up in an age of international competition like we could never have imagined. If our students are to be problem solvers and leaders in innovation, then why do we want them to be drones of drill and kill methods of instruction? Teachers don’t need to get stuck in the mud of stagnation. They do need to change and improve over time, not just until they get tenure.

    So as the county wrestles with its budget maybe our teachers could embrace the changes they need to make to help our children get ready for increasing global competition. Soap boxing on specialists and programs for innovation in change is narrow minded and backward focused.
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  38. haha, those "teach the teacher" positions are a joke, believe me there is no teaching the teacher....
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  39. To suggest that TRTs should be eliminated because teachers are already "educated" shows complete detachment from what goes on in schools. TRTs are responsible for among other things: making sure each school’s grades are submitted error free, making sure online SOL testing works, making sure content is on each schools website, coordinating with network specialists to solve myriad network hardware and software problems, configuring and approving teacher requests for professional development in the school system’s my learning plan software, overseeing computer labs, working directly with teachers on new software that comes out virtually every school year (like the latest version of MS Office) so teachers can take advantage of that software. Working directly with students on technology issues students have trouble understanding.

    This is just a fraction of what they’re involved in at each school. The school system wisely spent funds the last couple years on the rollout of interactive white boards – who do you think trained and worked with teachers in every school to show them how to effectively use those interactive white boards?
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  40. TO THE PERSON WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T TEACH THE TEACHER, maybe you don't realize we are constantly in training to keep our licenses current. This means a total of 180hours of professional training, possibly advanced degree classes, to keep our licenses. Teachers are always learning.
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  41. Removing TRTs from schools that are technologically advanced is like removing an engine from a car.
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  42. If your child is doing well in school, thank a teacher. If your child is doing poorly, suport them more at home, because LCPS teachers go out of their way to give extra time to those students to help them achieve.

    With no raises, you will see the teachers working with your students not being of strong enough skill set to be able to differentiate. It is a skill that takes a long time to master.

    IF YOU ARE A PARENT, SUPPORT PAY RAISES SO YOUR CHILD DOES NOT END UP BEING TAUGHT BY TEACHERS THAT CANNOT GET JOBS ANYWHERE ELSE.

    WRITE THE BOS OR GO TO A MEETING. PARENTS NEED TEACHERS AND TEACHERS NEED PARENTS!
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  43. TRTs need to stay they provide an important service to the teachers and the school, the EMRTs need to go, along with FLES and SAMS, Inservices are important to all teachers to keep up with licensure. But having "consulting" teachers go around from school to school is not the answer. Is there anyway to take a look at the nursing staff-- do we realy need that many school RNs that travel from school to school and supervise the assistants and other RNs that actually work in the school building? Obviously we need school clinics and they need to be staffed with qualified people but do we need all the supervisiors?
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  44. I am a special education teacher in LCPS. I am a former nurse who was able to switch careers to become a teacher. It was the best career move I have ever made! I really love my job in teaching! It is a very rewarding and fulfilling career. I would be very saddened if I was forced to leave the teaching profession that I love so much.
    I, as well as many others, am feeling the impact of our struggling economy. Loudoun County is a very expensive area to live in. I have had to supplement my teaching job with additional jobs just to make ends meet. With this being done, I am still barely making it. Unfortunately, I sometimes feel that my teaching is impacted by this. On most days I have to “fly” out of school to make it to my other jobs. I am often exhausted after a 10-12 hour day. I am not asking for sympathy from you. People have to do what they have to do. I am just asking for some consideration when discussing next year’s budget.
    It is unbelievable that LCPS salaries fall next to last among surrounding jurisdictions. Aren’t we one of the biggest and fastest growing counties in the state of Virginia? It is being predicted student enrollment will increase by 5.4%. This would bring our student totals to approximately 63,500.
    There are many important people with important jobs in LCP S. Who are the most crucial? Well, of course, it is the teachers and supporting staff. Without teachers and supporting staff, you don’t have a school. Without teachers, the students will not obtain an education. Students rely on teachers to learn and grow. Teachers are a very important part to our children’s futures. I look at it as an investment of sorts. Students need to be provided the best opportunity, including top notch teachers, so that they can be successful in the future, our future. LCPS employees, including teachers did not receive any increases in their salary this year. LCPS has fallen next to last place in salary when compared to other jurisdictions. How is this going to attract or keep “top notch” teachers?
    So, what I am asking is that the school board and BOS support an increase in staff salaries. I understand that it is a difficult time financially for all, but am asking for some kind of increase, even a COLA. Please show that your teachers and supporting staff are important and appreciated!
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  45. When people in this county are struggling to make ends meet, how can we make people pay more money (in taxes) to give other people (LCPS employees) raises?
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  46. If I recall, firemen, policemen, rescue workers, health workers, county workers haven't received raises either. Why are teachers more important?
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  47. Didn't the fire men just get a beautiful new building with flat screen tv's in the bedrooms?

    Not to minimize anyone's contribution, but how difficult is a police officers job in this county?? I'm originally from Ca. and it's a vastly different job to be a cop out there....just an observation. Of course, it's vastly different teaching in Ca. as well. However, the demands placed upone teachers everywhere (including Loudoun)are increasing but the salary is not.

    As far as people living in Loudoun feeling the financial squeeze too....hmmm. If that's the case why do so many here live in 5000square foot mini mansions or $300,000 townhomes? Why are more mansions being built? I don't buy it. This is one of the wealthiest counties in the US with one of the lowest tax rates. I think the time has come to look at what we're all paying in taxes and see how much it would really hurt to increase by even the minimum.
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  48. Here is an interesting article that shows the decline of our school system. If you want the education for your kids that they deserve, you have to pay for it! Support our schools and our teachers. They shape our future!

    http://www.loudountimes.com/news/2009/dec/16/loudoun-falls-rank-among-local-school-districts/
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  49. If monies are tight, focus on the basics of instruction - language arts, math, science, and history. Cut the programs that are fluff - thought they are nice, they are not a necessity. Get rid of FLES and SAMS. That's what fairfax is doing. Let's give our kids the educational knowledge they need and leave the languages as an elective. I want my tax dollars used for the core subjects!
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