By John Lovaas, Reston Impact
Producer/Host
For some time I’ve thought our
public school teachers in Fairfax County are undervalued and underpaid. This
view is based on data I’ve seen in the last couple of years comparing teacher
pay in public school systems in the Metro Washington suburbs. That data
reflects that our Fairfax County teachers’ pay has steadily declined in recent
years relative to that of their counterparts in other jurisdictions.
When I happened to glance
recently at information on pay elsewhere in Fairfax County government, I found
that hundreds of County employees are not suffering as our teachers are. In
fact, the others are well paid by comparison.
Fairfax County firefighters and
uniformed public safety (police and Sheriff’s deputies) personnel are doing
much better than I had imagined. In many cases they are making nearly double
what Fairfax County pays classroom teachers. At present, there are about 3,200
people serving as firefighters, police officers and sheriff’s deputies. Half of
them made over $100,000 per year in 2016 when you include overtime, premium pay
and the stipends they routinely receive.
Firefighters on average make the
most, and arguably have less stressful work than cops or deputy sheriffs.
Sixty-two percent of firefighters make over $100,000 per year, while 43 percent
of police officers make $100,000 or more, and 35 percent of the Sheriff’s
deputies make that much.
Very few teachers earn $100,000
or more, likely less than 5 percent.
Starting salaries for teachers,
police officers, and firefighters are similar — in the low- to mid-$50,000
range. Sheriff’s deputies start at about $10,000 less.
There the similarities end. Among
the ranks of the uniformed services, overtime at premium rates is routine and a
major chunk of the total paycheck. Also, they take home several other forms of
premium rate pay, e.g., callback, emergency, shift, and holiday pay. And there
are several additional stipends. While teachers perform duties that parallel
some of these premium pay categories, they rarely receive anything beyond their
base salary.
This is not to say that uniformed
police officers and sheriff’s deputies, or even firefighters, are overpaid.
These are the folks who help keep us safe and, especially in the case of police
officers, often put their lives in jeopardy doing so. It is hard indeed to
over-value these services.
But, why is it that those to whom
we entrust the education of our children and our country’s future are valued so
much less by the Fairfax County School Board and Board of Supervisors? Unlike
police, firefighters and deputy sheriffs, many of whom make over $100,000 per
year, our teachers rarely can afford to even live in the communities where they
teach because of their much lower incomes. This I just do not understand.
P.S. There are another 800-plus
Fairfax County employees also making over $100,000 per year. They are the heads
of departments, offices, and the many County semi-autonomous organizations —
e.g. the Park Authority, Economic Development Authority, Housing Authority,
etc. — as well as other well-paid denizens of the huge Fairfax County
Government Center.
