Denise Oppenhagen
Published: May 11, 2008

This week, the Prince William County School Board approved the budget for next school year. The budget, as per previous agreements, was heavily influenced by the actions of the Board of County
Supervisors. The Board of County Supervisors got what they wanted — a lower tax rate. Good for them. The School Board got a smaller budget. Bad for us.

For teachers, the budget does little to improve the wage gap between Prince William County and other area counties. Our teachers are the lowest paid. Many teachers work additional jobs during the summer to make ends meet.  One teacher I know works a summer job that pays him more so that he can afford to teach. He’s unusual, though. Most teachers end up leaving for another job that pays a higher wage. High turnover rates do our children no good. They need teachers who have been in the county for a while, teachers who understand the ins and outs of working in such a large school system, teachers who are experienced in managing classrooms, teachers who are experienced, period.
Teachers get most of the attention, but they are not the only school system employees on the low end of the pay scale. According to the Washington Area Boards of Education report, our bus drivers are also the lowest paid in the area at $14.72. I’ve got to tell you that that salary doesn’t sound too high to begin with. Add to that what school bus drivers do. A bus driver carries about 50 full-of-energy children.  They have to drive through rain and snow. They have to be flexible enough to deal with two-hour delays for snow and early dismissal.  They have to adhere to a tight schedule because they transport high schoolers and middle schoolers and elementary schoolers.  They have to be able to focus on the road while at the same time monitoring students who may be throwing things or cursing or starting fights. 

It’s not just salary, though, that’s affected. It’s also seemingly small but really important budget items.  For instance. one of the items cut from the budget was the “Classy Awards.” These awards provided recognition for school personnel who go above and beyond in doing their jobs. It was recognition for folks who usually don’t get recognized. “So what?,” you may be saying to yourself. You don’t get recognized at work with a party so why should teachers? Teachers deserve to get some recognition. They work in the most important profession in the world. They try to educate the next generation of leaders while managing concerned and/or angry parents, enacting new programs, teaching students of differing skills in the same classroom and dealing with multiplying governmental rules. Their job performance is tied, in very large part, to the scores their students achieve on the Standards of Learning tests. How many other professionals have their job performance tied to outside individuals who may or may not be motivated enough to care about how they do a test? 

The leaders in Prince William County have made their priorities known. The Board of County Supervisors is obviously more interested in cutting taxes than in improving our schools. The superintendent and School Board have made the teachers on the front line their priority. Unfortunately, these two priorities are in conflict. It is up to those of us who live in the county, whose children attend school in the county, who care about the future of the county, to make decisions that will impact our county for years to come. It is imperative that those of us who have lived here long enough to remember when the world class education system envisioned by the late Dr. Kelley was a reality, make our voices heard. 

Did you realize this past week was Teacher’s Week? Probably not — teachers are generally taken for granted. 

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at .