VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) - Some educators in Virginia Beach are gearing up to take on the school board, fighting for better pay.
The proposed budget includes a slight pay raise for employees, but educators said it's not enough.
The proposed budget calls for a 2 percent raise for all full-time employees, but the Virginia Beach Education Association said they want a 5 percent raise. Some explained this raise is needed because the city and state revenues are up.
VBEA President Kelly Walker said some educators work multiple jobs and have to live in cities outside of where they work to pay bills.
"If we value what happens in our schools, and the people that make the strides in the schools, why can't we pay them," Walker said. "To not pay them a living wage is egregious."
Walkers said it's all about retaining teachers. Virginia Beach ranks number 1 in Hampton Roads for attracting teachers to the beach, but it declines to number five by year ten.
The starting salary for teachers is about $45,000 in Virginia Beach. In Norfolk, the starting salary is around $43,600. If a teacher in Virginia Beach works 15 years, they would make about $52,800 compared to about $55,300 in Norfolk.
"Virginia Beach currently has a 100 percent accreditation, and teachers work hard because they care about the students and communities," Walker explained.
Walker started a letter-writing campaign to school officials. She said if that doesn't work, many plan to make their voices heard at the school board meeting on March 13th.
School Board member Victoria Manning said she would support paying educators more for advanced degrees. She found that it could be possible in the budget, but said her peers didn’t agree with that idea. She believes the focus needs to be on making workloads smaller for teachers and helping with student discipline.
13News Now also reached out to Virginia Beach Public Schools, a spokesperson made the following statement:
As Dr. Spence outlined in his Estimate of Needs, in order to attract and retain the most qualified staff, the division must offer the most competitive compensation package possible, which is why he proposed the 2 percent raise this year. If this year’s plan is approved, in the four years Dr. Spence has served as superintendent, his recommendations have led to staff receiving a raise each year. In addition, please note that the school division works with the City of Virginia Beach collaboratively to ensure staff members receive comparable raises. At the School Board’s last budget meeting, the Board did share that if any additional funds are received from the state, one of their top priorities would be to use those monies for additional employee compensation.