"Speak Out" is an expression of opinion from the Editorial Board of WBTV, and is presented by General Manager, Nick Simonette.
Imagine this: a pay raise for teachers.
That's something they haven't heard in several years.
It's almost foreign to them.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District's interim superintendent wants to give all CMS employees a three percent raise.
He needs about $30 million extra in the budget to pay for it.
Now given these still uncertain economic times, we're not sure where the money will come from.
But if any funds ARE available, we say "teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and librarians should come FIRST."
We believe the rest of the six-figure salary administrators can wait.
It is much easier to survive in tough times when you make more than 100 thousand dollars a year,
as opposed to the salaries teachers and other staff have been making.
Many have no choice but to work 2 and 3 jobs just to make ends meet.
In addition to grading papers and preparing lesson plans, your child's teacher may also be a waitress, working at the airport, or working in retail.
To make matters worse, some teachers are forced to dip into their own pockets to purchase supplies.
We hope CMS finds or gets the money to give teachers a pay hike. They deserve it.
And wouldn't it be nice if the six-figure salary CMS folks would get together and say
"Hey, don't worry about us...just get the money to give teachers a raise."
That'll be the day.
If you feel the same way we do, encourage your representative to put teachers first.
A three percent increase isn't much, but hopefully it can be a down payment for better pay days ahead.
Tell us what YOU think. SpeakOut@wbtv.com.
