Letter: Teacher salaries should not include legislating

Editor,

Before anyone calls me “anti-teacher,” let me say that I have a degree in education, my daughter is at UNM majoring in education, and I believe the starting pay of teachers in New Mexico should be $5,000 to $10,000 higher.

With that said, I have to give credit to the APS school board for delaying a final decision on paying teachers for days they are absent while serving as state legislators. Granted, legislators are not paid a salary.

However, a legislator receives a pretty healthy per diem for every day they serve a legislative function. For example, a teacher/legislator could drive one mile from his or her home to an office to attend a legislative committee meeting for one hour and receive over $100 per diem.

Teachers have available annual vacation days as well as leave without pay they can use to serve legislative duties. Legislative duties are not part of their job description and serve a function outside of their school responsibilities.

While serving in a “citizen legislature” is honorable and certainly time-consuming, it is not appropriate to pay them a school-based salary for this volunteer responsibility. I have no problem allowing teachers (or administrative staff) to use vacation days or leave without pay, but we must consider the fact that when we pay a teacher for time serving the legislature, we also have to pay a substitute to take over their school duties for that day. Per diem is given out willy-nilly by the state. A full day per diem of more than $100 is given for an hour’s work.

Teachers are wonderful people who serve a profound and valuable service to the community. Let’s pay them a fair wage for that responsibility. I suggest a starting salary of $45,000, but let’s not allow them to double-dip the system when they are not working in that capacity.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Paul

Daily Lobo reader