“It’s never enough for them. They’re never satisfied. Their priority is not the children of Virginia. Their priority is money.”
— Del. John J. Welch III, R-Virginia Beach, speaking of the Virginia Education Association’s request for a five percent pay raise when the governor is offering three percent.
That comment is all too typical of those who don’t want to raise taxes for better teacher pay. And it hits home with Virginians who are just glad to have a job, let alone a pay raise. Teachers deserve more, especially Virginia teachers.
In the 1989-1990 school year, Virginia teacher pay trailed the national average by $423.
Now that gap is nearly $3,000, the VEA said.
But the VEA should figure out a better way to lobby for those increases. Instead of every year asking for more money, why don’t teacher unions develop a long-range plan, with an accompanying bill, to increase salaries to either national levels or beyond, so they only have to sell the idea once. Otherwise, they do open themselves to the charges that “it’s never enough.”
That plan ought to include some concessions to critics. My kids go to one the state’s best high schools – one of the nation’s best, if you believe Newsweek rankings. But there are a few lousy teachers there, mostly older ones that tenure rules seem to prohibit firing. If teachers were willing to work with critics to develop more accountability to go along with higher pay, maybe they can achieve that goal of adequate pay. And that’s what we’re talking about. If Virginia teachers achieve parity with the national average, that only means they have achieved a higher level of still inadequate pay. But politically, it’s a long-term project, not asking for more each legislative session.
Maybe such a plan exists, if not in Virginia in other states or at a national level. But I’m afraid many people just hear “it’s never enough.”