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Thousands march for education

By Corrine Fize/Capital News Service | 2/1/2019, 6 a.m.
As thousands of teachers and supporters from around the state marched to the state Capitol Monday to call for higher ...
Thousands of teachers, parents, students, administrators, elected officials and education supporters gather Monday at the State Capitol after a march from Monroe Park to demand more money for public education in Virginia. The event was part of Virginia Educators United’s #RedforEd campaign. Photo by Regina H. Boone Richmond Free Press

Among the educators in the throngs of people are Richmond Public Schools’ Keri Treadway, holding the sign, and Ram Bhagat, right.

Richmond Free Press

Among the educators in the throngs of people are Richmond Public Schools’ Keri Treadway, holding the sign, and Ram Bhagat, right.

As thousands of teachers and supporters from around the state marched to the state Capitol Monday to call for higher salaries and more funding for Virginia’s public schools, legislative leaders announced they would include a 5 percent pay raise for teachers in the proposed state budget.

Carrying placards and signs and wearing red coats and scarves for the #RedforEd rally organized by the Virginia Educators United, teachers, parents, students and supporters of all ages gathered in Monroe Park before marching down Franklin Street to the Capitol cheering and chanting for more money for public education.

On the Capitol grounds, participants heard community leaders protest what they see as inadequate funding for Virginia’s schools and teachers.

Rodney A. Robinson, Virginia’s 2018 Teacher of the Year, said the millions of dollars Virginia offered Amazon to build an East Coast headquarters in Northern Virginia could “pay for more teachers, counselors and 21st century school buildings that are not infested with roaches, rats and mold.”

The state and Arlington County offered more than $570 million in direct subsidies to Amazon and about $220 million in transportation improvements to entice the company to locate its new facility in Crystal City, near Reagan National Airport.

According to the Virginia Education Association, which represents the state’s teachers, Virginia ranks 34th among the states in teacher pay, with the average annual teacher salary at $51,265 — more than $9, 200 below the national average.

Liz Holmes, a second-grade teacher at Greenville Elementary School in Warrenton, said she has not had a raise in 11 years. Ms. Holmes said she was marching to express her frustration over the lack of “fair compensation” in her workplace.

“We are losing qualified teachers every year to surrounding counties that pay higher wages,” Ms. Holmes said, holding a picture of her with her students. “Enough is enough.”

Joining the rally were Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association. A teacher workday on Monday, which closed schools, allowed many area teachers and students to attend the rally.

As the rally went on outside, Delegate Steve Landes of Augusta County announced in a speech on the floor of the House of Delegates that Republican lawmakers would include a 5 percent raise for teachers in the state budget plan they will release on Sunday.

“Virginia has some of the finest teachers in the country and that has led to Virginia students consistently outperforming nationwide peers on standardized tests, college admissions and graduate rates,” said Delegate Landes, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the House Education Committee. “To maintain that success, we must ensure our teachers are fairly compensated and know the hard work they do each and every day is greatly appreciated.”

The Appropriations Committee chairman, Republican Delegate Chris Jones of Suffolk, said the proposed budget amendments would increase teachers’ salaries without raising taxes. “Under conservative leadership in the House of Delegates, this will be the fourth teacher pay raise in the last six years,” he said.

“As a public school teacher for 30 years, I know how hard teachers work to educate Virginia’s future leaders,” said House Speaker Kirk Cox, a Republican from Colonial Heights and retired high school government teacher. “We must make it a priority to keep great teachers in the classroom, and that starts with making sure our teachers are fairly compensated.”

Democrats are already on board with the 5 percent pay raise for teachers. Under the two-year budget adopted by the General Assembly in 2018, teachers are scheduled to receive a 3 percent salary increase on July 1. In his proposed budget amendments, Gov. Ralph S. Northam recommended awarding teachers an additional 2 percent raise.

Gov. Northam, a Democrat, reiterated that proposal at a meeting of the Virginia School Board Association last week, calling it “the largest one-time pay raise for teachers in over 15 years.”

But teachers said a 5 percent raise doesn’t close the gap with the national average.

“It’s a start,” Ms. Holmes said, “but it’s not enough.”