BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS -- School districts complaining about a state-ordered 2.3 percent teacher cost-of-living adjustment should cut jobs if they don't have enough money to increase salaries, Gov. Paul Patton said Thursday. The governor's statement came on a day when he was repeatedly touted as the education governor.
He spoke at a fund-raiser for the Boone County Educational Foundation, which raised $15,000 for Boone County Schools; he helped Northern Kentucky University kick off a workforce development partnership with Fidelity Investments; and he was praised for approving a $38 million Science Center for NKU.
Mr. Patton's suggestion also came a day after several Northern Kentucky superintendents told an education department official that the pay increase would financially harm their districts. "We need to guarantee that when teachers are in this profession, they will get paid as professionals," Mr. Patton said. "But every district should be able to meet this. We need to give teachers this raise."
The General Assembly approved a pay hike for all teachers based on the state's increase in basic school funding and the Consumer Price Index. That means a 2.3 percent raise this fall plus any step increases already built into teacher salary contracts.
But districts with declining enrollment will receive less money this year because state money is awarded on a per-pupil basis. "If they have 80 less students, they probably don't need all of their teachers," Mr. Patton said.
Janet Carrico, president of the Kentucky Education Association, said teachers should not be laid off unless there is proven enrollment decline.
Teachers deserve this raise because they have not had significant increases since 1990, she said.
On the higher education front, Mr. Patton cited the joint effort between NKU and Fidelity Investments to develop banking, accounting and other financial courses as the best example in the state of bringing post-secondary education into the future.
Paul Smith, Fidelity general manager, said the program would mean better employees for the entire industry. Students will be taught by Fidelity employees and NKU faculty. There will be scholarship and co-op opportunities provided by the company.
Students Kyethea Kirk, 24, of Westwood and Tiffany Elliott, 21, of Erlanger said the program will make them more prepared.
"It shows you how far teachers will go for you, and the co-ops will help us decide which area of finance is best for us," Ms. Kirk said.
Mr. Patton's visit ended with a celebration of the funding for the $38 million NKU Science Center, the largest capital construction project in the state. The building will house biological sciences, chemistry, physics and geology departments and is expected to be completed in fall 2001.
