Wednesday, April 23, 2003
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Wednesday, April 23, 2003 |
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1% raise for teachers in BOE budget By J. FRANK LYNCH
The chief budget writer for the Fayette County school district gave members of the Board of Education a quick open and shut peek at a working draft of the 2003-2004 spending plan at a called meeting Thursday afternoon, revealing million dollar details and a few surprises. Chief among them: Despite the dire financial straits the system finds itself in next school year, Superintendent John DeCotis has vowed to give every district employee, certified and non-certified, a 1 percent raise. The move is symbolic of the fact that "we're in the people business," DeCotis explained. "And in Fayette County, we take care of our people." The extra 1 percent comes on top of the 2.5 percent the school district is already having to cough up for each certified employee after the Legislature cut its share of local teacher salaries by that amount, then turned around and ordered the individual districts to make up the difference. DeCotis is also committed to making sure all teachers who are scheduled to receive their three-year "step increase" in salary aren't left behind though the state isn't funding that, either, and hasn't indicated if those teachers would ever be "caught up" in later years. As unfair as it sounds, DeCotis said, a teacher due a jump to the next salary scale this year could be skipped over and not qualify for another reclassification until 2007. Paying the raises locally at least assures that Fayette teachers "won't fall behind" in pay, DeCotis said. Together, the 1 percent systemwide raise and the "step increase" raises will cost Fayette County almost $3 million more in a budget that's lean and getting leaner. As of Thursday, the proposal was coming in almost $7 million more than the goal of matching the current school year budget of about $145 million. But there will be no $7 million increase in revenue, and in fact a small increase in the county's millage rate is among the options being considered just to break even with this year's spending. Budget talks will continue through the middle of May.
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