Fairfax County teachers should not expect pay raises — neither now nor next year — despite the school board’s desire to thaw the two-year pay freeze, county supervisors said Monday.
The school board voted on Oct. 18 to use the $21.3 million in federal stimulus funding for teacher compensation for next school year and to present the plan to the Board of Supervisors at their first joint budget planning meeting for fiscal 2012 on Tuesday.
But a year of step increases plus a basic cost-of-living adjustment for more than 20,000 eligible employees would cost $61 million, and county supervisors said they are not receptive to footing the $40 million difference. Rather, they said the school board should use the federal funding to mitigate the loss of grants that will dry up by fiscal 2012. About 517 school employees are funded by one-time grants.
The school system’s current budget was cushioned by about $30 million in federal stimulus dollars and a bonus $100 million when the state paid for the county’s annual pension contributions. “The school system is in a hole, and they’re promising more money before they’ve got it figured out,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield.
Supervisor Jeff McKay, D-Lee, said his “mission” for the past three budgets has been to keep employees. “Let’s not add to the economic woes of the region by laying off the teachers we have,” he said. “Let’s weather the storm together and be grateful for the salaries we have.”
Tessie Wilson, the school board’s budget chairwoman, reiterated that the school board would propose both step pay increases and a 2 percent cost-of-living increase.
“We’re aware that they believe there should be no employee compensation increases — that’s not a secret,” Wilson said. “The school board has a different philosophy.”
While the supervisors’ annual allotment to schools is not a line-item budget, they can force the school system’s hand by providing less than the amount requested for raises.
Fairfax teachers have not received raises since fiscal 2009; in the past two years, the budget has been slashed by $52.5 million to $2.2 billion, even as enrollment has swollen by 7,000 students. School officials are projecting an additional 2,120 students next year.
Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova cautioned that all county employees have been dealing with frozen salaries and that school employees should not expect special treatment.
“People who work for parks, for the library, people who are budget analysts, police, and firefighters, are also struggling,” Bulova said. “When we think in terms of compensation issues, it needs to be with equity in mind.”
