Saturday, March 31, 2001

By Richelle Turner Collins, Würzburg Bureau

Richelle Turner Collins / S&S Reginald Weaver, vice president of the National Education Association, talks to teachers about education trends on Friday.

WÜRZBURG, Germany — Improving teacher salaries and increasing school resources tops the National Education Association’s legislative agenda, according to the teacher union’s vice president.

Reginald Weaver, a NEA leader, was keynote speaker for the Würzburg School District’s Educator’s Day on Friday. Educator’s Day is a two-day event that instructs teachers on education trends and new curriculum.

Weaver held a special class Friday called "Issues in Education," where he unveiled the NEA’s legislative priorities.

Weaver, a longtime educator, began his class with a civics lesson of sorts.

He discussed the recent presidential election, where Republican President George W. Bush narrowly defeated Democrat Al Gore.

"There was one thing the American public spoke loudly on," said Weaver, who speaks with the fiery tone of part Baptist preacher, part motivational speaker.

"They gave a mandate and the mandate was not to a person, not to a political party, but to a principle. The principle is public education."

Low-performing schools is one issue that Weaver feels fits into the mandate. It tops the NEA’s agenda.

Low-performing schools are typically found in rural or urban communities, while priority schools are found in suburban areas.

The priority schools usually have smaller classroom sizes, less students in the school, higher standards, safe environments, counselors, quality educators, better infrastructure and technology, Weaver said. The NEA wants to turn low-performing schools into priority schools.

Another important issue for the NEA is teacher quality.

But quality costs.

Weaver said teacher’s salaries are so low that many people won’t become educators.

There is also a problem with recruiting teachers and keeping them over time, he said.

In some school districts a new teacher’s starting salary is $19,000 a year. If the teacher has a master’s degree and works for 30 years, the educator could be earning as little as $30,000 a year, he said.

A recent college graduate who selects another profession can get a starting salary of $30,000 a year, Weaver said.

"My friends, there is something wrong with that," Weaver said.

He summed up his talk with telling teachers what they could do to end the voucher debate: "Educate the kids," Weaver said to about 25 educators.

"If you do this, you won’t have to worry about vouchers."

Educators liked what Weaver had to say about education funding and priorities.

"He’s right on target," said Cathy McAdams, a sixth-grader teacher at Ansbach Elementary School.

"In order to have quality education and quality schools we have to have the things he mentioned — smaller classrooms sizes, challenging curriculum, kids have to feel safe in schools and have quality, caring teachers."

McAdams also gave the conference good grades.

"I think it’s a great opportunity for teachers to get together and share and find out what’s going on in other schools in the States," McAdams said.

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