Despite concerns,
Senate okays proposed teacher pay hike
by Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Correspondent
Senators raised
yesterday a myriad of concerns over the teacher pay hike proposal
from the Administration - from its funding source to teacher
qualifications - but despite that, the senators went ahead and
gave its first endorsement of the legislation.
The Senate passed
the bill - which sets salaries for teachers beginning at $7,737
to up to $35,000 based on certification and qualifications -
yesterday in second reading with amendments.
The specifics
of the amendments will be made known today as it will be incorporated
into the bill when it goes through final reading vote.
Sen. Alo Dr.
Paul Stevenson, who chaired a hearing yesterday over the proposal,
said during the regular session that the amendments are being
prepared by the Department of Education to be submitted for inclusion
in the measure.
During the hearing,
Senators voiced their concerns over various provisions of the
bill, including the funding source which is unspent DOE funding
for its FY 2008 budget.
At the start
of the hearing, Alo made it clear to government witnesses who
were there to testify about the bill that the Senate fully supports
increasing teacher salaries, but he added that there are still
many concerns about the language of the measure.
Sen. President
Lolo M. Moliga said the ASG should use a solid source of funding
to guarantee there is enough money to fund the proposed hikes
in future fiscal years.
DOE director
Dr. Claire Poumele said none of DOE services are being reduced
due to the proposal and explained that the savings used to fund
the increase is from budgeted salaries of teaching positions
that DOE is unable to fill due to the lack of qualified candidates.
Budget Office
director Magalei Logovi'i added that some teachers have resigned
or retired creating savings for the teacher reclassification
bill.
Poumele said
DOE projects that by the end of FY 2008 about $754,000 in local
revenues and $504,000 in federal grants will not be used, and
this will go to fund the proposal.
She said that
under the reclassification bill, about $382,388 in local revenue
and $405,000 in grants will be used to cover increases for the
last three months of the current fiscal year. If this bill is
approved by the Fono, she expects the increases to go into effect
in July.
For the new fiscal
year, Magalei said ASG will have to find the money to cover the
salary increases.
Poumele estimates
that about $3 million ($1.5 million each in local and federal
funding) will be needed to cover the increases for the new fiscal
year under the reclassification proposal that DOE helped formulate.
Department of
Human Resources director Mageo Malu said his office was also
involved in several discussions with the governor's office about
the reclassification measure.
He said one of
the provisions that he had asked to be removed but was not done
is the entry level position using teaching personnel with only
a high school diploma. He said this is no longer used because
only those with associate (two-year) degrees are hired as teacher
aides.
Several senators
believe the proposed increases are not good enough to attract
and retain qualified teachers. For example, Sen. Salanoa Aumoeualogo
suggested adding to each certification level an increase of $10,000.
Lolo said a higher
pay scale should be given to those individuals with bachelor's
degrees because a mere $19,000 to $20,000 being proposed will
not suffice.
Alo said locking
in teacher salaries and qualifications by law would make it difficult
in the future to make changes. He said he also doesn't support
language in the bill providing that the raises will be done every
two years.
The senator also
raised concerns over having the governor appoint the three-member
teacher certification board, which according to the measure,
is responsible for enforcing the teacher certification program
set by DOE. He said this should be tasked by the education department,
as is the current practice.
But Poumele said
in many states, this task is handled by a state board or committee,
not the education department.
Reach the
reporter at fili@samoanews.com.
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