Many Loudoun County teachers are balking at a recommendation from Schools Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III that would lengthen their workday by 30 minutes.
Under the recommendation, part of his preliminary operating budget proposal for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, teachers would be required to work 7 1/2 hours a day. They also would receive a cost-of-living raise of 3.8 percent and a 3 percent step increase -- a total pay raise of 6.8 percent in 1999.
"I think most teachers are in the building for 7 1/2 hours right now," Hatrick said Monday, during a meeting at Cool Spring Elementary School with members of the Loudoun Education Association, a teachers union. "I realize this is an extension of the day. But I believe that it will give credit for what most teachers are doing already."
However, many teachers said the raise would not compensate teachers adequately for what amounts, in total hours, to an additional 13 1/2 days of work per school year.
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"I feel it's something taken away from us, and we're not being compensated for it," said Ed Davis, a fifth-grade teacher at Lovettsville Elementary. "All our staff work over a half-hour extra a day. But it's our choice."
Claire Scholz, who teaches family life education at Sterling Middle School, said a survey conducted at her school showed that 90 percent of the teachers felt a 6.8 percent raise was not enough to justify adding 30 minutes to their day. "It includes a step increase, which is kind of a promise for your experience, and the cost-of-living raise is 3.8 percent," Scholz said. "Cost of living {inflation} is about 3 percent, so that means we're looking at about a 0.8 percent raise, which is not enough for an additional half-hour."
Hatrick said his recommendation was one of many that he believes will help Loudoun County become more competitive with Fairfax County when it comes to teachers' salaries.
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In his preliminary operating budget, a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree would make $29,567 in 1999, an amount Hatrick said is comparable to what Fairfax paid first-year teachers this year.
"If we can lag Fairfax by one year, we can remain competitive because in Fairfax County, the first 5 percent of salary that you earn goes to retirement, whereas in Loudoun County, that 5 percent retirement payment is made for you by the School Board," Hatrick said.
Hatrick said it is important to show parity with Fairfax schools in areas besides pay -- including how many hours teachers work -- if the Board of Supervisors is to be convinced to support a 6.8 percent pay raise. The supervisors must approve the school budget.
"The Fairfax County contract day is 7 1/2 hours. Our contract day is 7 hours," Hatrick said. "That's a glaring difference."
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Hatrick said that teachers need the extra 30 minutes for planning time. That is especially true, he said, of elementary school teachers, who have no planning time built into their school days, as high school teachers do. Under his proposal, each school could decide for itself whether to require teachers to come to school 30 minutes earlier or stay an extra 30 minutes, Hatrick said.
"The purpose of the extra half-hour," Hatrick said, "would be individual teacher planning, team planning, department meetings, group work, special ed teachers meetings with regular ed teachers -- the things you have to do outside the contract day anyhow."
Most of the teachers at Monday's meeting agreed with Hatrick that they need more planning time. However, they said Hatrick should look for other ways to add that time, such as teacher work days, occasional half-days for students and parent-teacher conference days. Fairfax, among other counties, uses those methods.
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Hatrick said he would withdraw his proposal to lengthen the teacher's contract day if the supervisors do not support a pay raise. However, he would not promise to withdraw his proposal if they support a pay raise of less than the proposed 6.8 percent.
"I don't know what the trigger point is beyond that. I don't want to get into that," he said. "I think it's really premature, because the School Board has to address this budget first."
Kelly Burk, president of the teachers union, said she is polling teachers in the county about the issue and will present the results of the poll to the School Board at its Dec. 9 meeting.
"It's a compensation issue," Burk said. "It's not to say that, We're not there {after school} so we don't want to be there.' It's, We're there, and you need to compensate us for it. Otherwise don't require us to be there.' "
