Unwilling to Pay More For Teachers' Salaries
So School Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III wants to make Loudoun's first-year teachers the most highly paid in the region? Hatrick also said in a speech to the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce that since Virginia is a low tax state, Loudoun residents are undertaxed. Perhaps that's why he wants to reach deeper into our pockets to fund needless services such as foreign languages in elementary schools.
Many of us are not undertaxed. Just to live in Loudoun County, many parents both have to work to afford that $400,000 average house. Many families are taxed at the highest rates on 100K-plus salaries, yet lack the real wealth to fund college for their children because of the high cost of living and rapidly rising college costs.
The cost of a four-year degree at an in-state university has risen by more than 40 percent over the past three years. The only problem is, the money I saved to put three children through college will now cover the cost of only 1.5 children.
Perhaps I can tap the equity in my home, the taxes on which have risen by almost 50 percent in four years? The reality is, I can't tap that equity until I move. But I have two children still in high school. I will not move these children to afford the higher salaries Hatrick is seeking and the additional services for which he expects Loudoun families to pay. Of course, if I take into consideration the decline in my children's academic knowledge since coming from Fairfax, I probably should move back.
In almost every year since my children moved to Loudoun, their standardized test scores have fallen. My children attend Heritage High School, which is nonperforming, not making adequate yearly progress. Hatrick is asking me to pay more for this school? I think not. I will be one of the first parents at his door next year if Heritage fails again to make the grade. As the law allows, I will insist that my children be moved to a performing high school. There are many fine teachers and administrators at Heritage, but that doesn't negate the facts.
Loudoun is not Fairfax. We do not have the residents or businesses to afford the bells and whistles Hatrick would like, such as Spanish classes in elementary schools. This is not a need. Private language lessons are available. I would think that any additional resources the county can afford should be devoted to the four nonperforming high schools.
This county has many constituencies with needs, not just those using the school system. Many young adults who could not afford college or were not destined for higher education for any number of reasons are struggling to live in Loudoun. Roads, fire stations and schools need to be built. The homeless must be helped.
Hatrick is being disingenuous to say that parents are clamoring for these extra services and much higher starting salaries. I'm not, and I haven't heard any of my neighbors clamoring either. In fact, many are worried that in a few years their children will be at Heritage.
In addition, I think it is a questionable practice for some principals to pack county budget hearings with teachers by buying them dinner. Teachers should be heard, but I don't think taxpayers should be footing the bill to pack public hearings with one constituency when there are so many other pressing needs in the country's fastest-growing county.
I agree that teachers should be adequately compensated. But those of us who have served our governments and our fellow citizens know going in that we are not going to be among the highest-paid professions. I don't want teachers to come to our school system for the highest paycheck. I want them to come for the quality of the students, the work conditions and the love of teaching. Teachers, bureaucrats, journalists, astronauts, police officers and many others all work incredibly long hours, often face trying circumstances, and they do it for very low pay in some cases. They do it for the love of the work. They do it to serve the public good.
I once interviewed a first-year teacher at Dranesville Elementary School in Herndon as a reporter for the Herndon Times. This young woman was incredibly bright, an Ivy League graduate. She was wonderful with the children. Her patience appeared limitless. I asked her why she chose Fairfax County Public Schools for her first teaching job. She seemed genuinely surprised by the question. "We have mentors," she said. "The system supports us first-year teachers. The students and families here care about education."
Funny, she didn't mention salary.
Ramona Fortanbary
Leesburg
