House to
make final vote today on their teacher pay proposal and review
Senate's version
by La Poasa
and Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Reporters
The House will
vote on final reading today on their version of the Administration's
proposal to raise salaries for public school teachers. They will
also be discussing today the Senate's version of the measure,
which came to the House after senators unanimously approved it
in the final reading yesterday.
The House approved
their version yesterday in second reading after amending the
Certification Board language to specifically state that the three-member
board, which is to be appointed by the governor, must be approved
by the Fono (both Senate and House).
(The language
from the Administration had stated that the board is appointed
by the governor "with the consent and advice of the Legislature."
With the amendment by the House, this language has been deleted.)
The Senate's
version of the bill makes several changes.
Regarding the
Certification Board, the Senate has changed the language to read
that the board must be approved by the Senate only. The Administration
bill had provided that the teacher increments shall be done every
two years, but the Senate changed this to say that the increments
are to be done every year.
Additionally,
the Administration proposal had stated that DOE is authorized
to charge fees for actual services performed in relation to the
enforcement of the teacher certification program, but the Senate
removed this language from their version of the measure.
It will be made
known today what action(s) the House will make to the Senate's
version, whether they will amend it to reflect only the change
in the House's version or leave the Senate changes as is.
At least one
version of the proposed teacher pay raise must be approved by
both the Senate and House before it heads to the governor's desk.
HOUSE HEARING
The House's preliminary
endorsement of their version of the teacher measure yesterday
came after a three-hour hearing with witnesses: Education director
Dr. Claire Poumele, Human Resources director Malu Mageo, Treasurer
Gaea P. Failautusi and Budget director Magalei Logovi'i.
Testimony yesterday
reiterated what had been said in the Senate hearing on the teacher's
measure: DOE projects that unspent funds due to unfilled positions
or teachers resigning or retiring. can be used to fund the proposal
for FY 2008.
Magalei again
said his office will have to look for a source of funding for
the raise in FY 2009 and onwards, and this will be included in
DOE's budget.
About $3 million
will be needed every fiscal year to fund the teachers' pay raise
($1.5 million from local funds and another $1.5 million from
federal grants).
Much concern
was raised about locking in teacher salaries and qualifications
by law. House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale said this would make
it difficult to make changes in the future.
Poumele and Magalei
said the salaries in the bill are the starting bases for each
teacher levels. Regarding qualifications, they say while the
bill lists the types of qualification and certification, you'd
have to look at the DOE certification manual to determine, for
example, what courses are needed to meet a certain certification.
Poumele said
the certification manual is changed from time to time.
Savali and other
House members also raised concerns (like the Senate) about the
uncertainty of the source of funding for the salaries. They say
there needs to be a specific funding source so that the increases
continue into the future.
They also requested
information about the unfilled teacher positions, which was expected
to be given to lawmakers either yesterday or today.
GOVERNOR CLARIFIES
TEACHER RAISE PROPOSAL
In an effort
to further clarify the bill, Gov. Togiola Tulafono sent to the
Fono a letter yesterday following concerns raised in the Senate
about the proposal.
Togiola said
this bill was introduced with serious intent to reward excellent
performance and to address the current rate of absenteeism -
which is at 30 percent - among teachers.
Responding to
concerns that the pay hike is too low, Togiola said the numbers
proposed in the payscale were calculated to work as part of one
whole system and therefore any drastic changes would result in
ASG having to seek new sources of funding to accomplish the provisions
of this bill.
He said that
increments are based strictly on teacher performance and presence
in the classroom.
"The increments
will be granted only after successful evaluations, which means
wage advancement depends on performance improvement and good
attendance," he said.
Giving increments
every two years gives evaluators ample opportunity to carefully
monitor each teacher's performance to determine if it is in line
with expected standards, the governor said.
"With every
biennial increment, a teacher who receives a successful evaluation
is rewarded with an increment that covers years one and two,
which is the equivalent of three pay increments under the current
scheme," Togiola explained. "Over a period of 11 years,
a teacher who is paid under this new pay schedule, will receive
pay 150% higher than their general government counterparts."
Togiola said
that in evaluating each teacher the government foresees that
necessary fees and costs will be incurred, adding that its not
unreasonable to pass these costs along to those who seek certification.
He said these fees, which will be minimal, are only for actual
work done.
Reach La Poasa
at la@samoanews.com.
Reach Fili Sagapolutele at fili@samoanews.com.
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