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A boost for area teachers?

Stafford, Spotsylvania boards ask state for extra money to compete with Northern Virginia.

Date published: 11/29/2005

By KELLY HANNON

By RUTH FINCH and KELLY HANNON

Since the Fredericksburg area looks like Northern Virginia, local teachers should earn as much as they do in Northern Virginia, according to members of the Spotsylvania and Stafford school boards.

The boards, at separate meetings last night, asked state legislators to consider giving Stafford and Spotsylvania the same "cost of competing" funds that go to Fairfax, Prince William and other Northern Virginia school districts. The money helps these schools offset the higher cost of living outside Washington, and has allowed them to pay teachers the highest salaries in Virginia.

"We are starting to resemble Northern Virginia in a big way," said Jerry Hill, superintendent of Spotsylvania schools. Teachers have turned down jobs in Spotsylvania because it costs too much to relocate, he said.

The Spotsylvania and Stafford school boards and administrators have made perennial requests for additional salary money, but this year, both counties are getting a warmer response.

"This may be the time to get it on the table," said Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania. He stopped short of saying the money could be obtained this year.

"It might take awhile for it to happen, but I think the time is right for us to pursue it," Houck said.

In Stafford, School Board members asked House Speaker Bill Howell for the same supplement to address the same difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers.

Howell was sympathetic. He said he has asked Gov. Mark Warner to include the money for Stafford in the governor's proposed budget, but said other counties are making similar pitches.

Howell said he has another meeting with the governor later this week to discuss the matter further.

"I do think it'll be a lot easier this year than it would have been a couple of years ago," Howell said. "The biggest problem we have is that there are other counties saying, 'We deserve it, too,' and they probably do. It becomes a very expensive item."

Stafford School Board members impressed upon Howell how the situation in their county is unique.

For one thing, school-age children comprise 22 percent of Stafford's population, giving it the highest student-to-taxpayer ratio in the state. For another, housing prices have tripled in Stafford in a short time, making the county particularly unaffordable on a teacher's salary.

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Date published: 11/29/2005

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