The Shadow
RICHMOND — Educators from Alleghany County and Covington gathered in Richmond Monday with their counterparts from across the state to call for state lawmakers to boost funding for public education.
Thousands of teachers gathered Monday in Richmond’s Monroe Park and voiced their disenchantment over wages that are below the national average.
During their “Red for Ed” march to the state capitol, they said public schools are receiving less money than they did 10 years ago.
“Today was a big statement to the General Assembly that education is important and that funding needs to be returned to where it was before 2008,” said Gene Kotulka, superintendent of Alleghany County Public Schools.
At recent school board meetings, Kotulka has argued that the state cut education funding in the wake of the 2008 recession and has not restored the money that it took away.
Alleghany County schools were closed Monday to allow teachers to attend the rally in Richmond.
“Virginia is ranked high on where we stand in the country as far as educating our students, but it ranks near the bottom in teacher pay. That’s a huge discrepancy that needs to be addressed,” Kotulka said.
Educators are calling for the General Assembly to spend more on teachers and public education.
They are competing for more than $2 billion in new state revenue. The windfall, from federal tax reform, higher tax collections and an internet sales tax, is being eyed for raises for state employees, environmental improvements and tax relief for Virginia families, among other things.
In a related development Monday, Republican Steve Landes, who is vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced that the House version of a budget to be released later in the week will include a 5 percent pay raise for teachers.
“Virginia has some of the finest teachers in the country and that has led to Virginia students consistently outperforming nationwide peers on standardized tests, college admissions and graduation rates,” said Landes of Augusta County.
“To maintain that success, we must ensure teachers are fairly compensated and know that the hard work they do each day is greatly appreciated,” he said.
Virginia Educators United organized Monday’s rally, but it largely began in the fall when the Alleghany Education Association approached the Alleghany County School Board to seek support for increasing teacher pay.
Bob Umstead, president of the AEA, followed up with phone calls across the state to drum up support to increase teacher pay.
Teachers are arguing that the state needs to do its share to increase their pay and stop putting the financial burden on localities.
Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam has proposed a pay raise among other spending measures, saying Virginia’s teacher pay lags behind the national average and it’s getting harder to recruit and retain quality teachers. However, Nor-tham’s proposal would require matching funds from the localities.
Many school boards across the state have indicated that they will not be able to provide money to meet the state’s required matching funds.
“The reason why we are here [in Richmond] is we know Covington has spent all the money they could on education in the city,” said Rob Bennett, principal of Jeter-Watson Intermediate School.
“We’re here to tell our legislators it’s on them to fund us, not to put it on the back of our locality,” Bennett said.
Twelve city school employees participated in Monday’s rally. These employees took a day off to attend the rally.
“It’s a great rally. I’ve never seen so many people in one place. It’s just the beginning, we just want the legislators to know that it’s the state’s responsibility to fund education, not the locality,” Bennett said.
Covington School Superintendent Melinda Snead-Johnson also participated in the rally. She said the city’s schools were represented by teachers, administrators and paraprofessionals.
“We are proud to have represented our city schools and let the General Assembly know that the state needs to fund education,” Snead-Johnson said.
The average teacher in the state makes about $51,000, according to National Education Association, while a typical teacher in the U.S. makes about $60,000.
It’s also below the $53,980 average wage of Virginia workers.
