Pay Boost for Teachers Starts in January

Tena Lee in the Hendersonville Standard reports on the recently approved teacher pay raises that are now set to begin in January:

A $4,000 annual pay increase for all Sumner County teachers, principals and other certified employees will take effect in January following votes by the Sumner County Commission on Monday and the Sumner County Board of Education on Tuesday.

On Monday, teachers, principals and school nurses descended on the county’s administration building for a vote to set the county’s tax rate at $2.262 per $100 of assessed property value. The rate is 33 cents more than the certified rate of $1.9284.

Of the 33-cent increase, 12 cents will go toward funding raises for certified employees at an estimated cost of $8.8 million. Two cents, or roughly $1.2 million, will go toward hiring school resource officers in the remaining 15 schools that do not currently have one.

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Tena Lee's Wild Ride

Tena Lee writes in today's Hendersonville Star News about the 2014 County Commission and School Board races.

She suggests Sumner County is in for a "wild ride" between now and election day -- when voters will hear conflicting messages about the state of our schools.

One the one side, grassroots organization Strong Schools -- calling for more funding for schools and the election of County Commissioners who will support that funding, even if it means a small tax increase.

On the other, the Merrol Hyde-Jerry Stone faction of the County Commission -- a group locked down against any tax increase.  That faction insists instead that the School Board should simply make do with what it has.

Lee's piece is compelling because while parents have packed the County Commission chambers on numerous occasions (including this past Monday for the Janet Arnold-Leslie Schell vote) historically, turnout has been terribly low for primary and general elections for County offices. 

If parents whine and complain, but don't vote, there will have been 2+ years of intense conflict resulting in little actual policy change.

On the other hand, with turnout numbers so typically low, involving just 100-200 new voters in some districts may be enough to change the outcome and elect someone new to County Commission or School Board. 

In either case, the next 9-12 months promise to be quite interesting and possibly even wild.

Lowe Trial Rocks Community

Tena Lee offers an insightful commentary on the emotions surrounding the Lindsey Lowe case.