Now for the teachers division…

Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, has made the first motion on the teachers division of the public school budget. It preserves the early retirement incentive program; offsets the equivalent of three furlough days with federal stimulus money, so the furlough days wouldn’t be necessary; cancels the freezing of the teacher salary grid for a year by dipping into the public school stabilization fund; and uses stimulus money to reduce an overall base salary cut from 5 percent to 3 percent. It also goes along with Supt. Tom Luna’s proposal to reduce a classroom supply allowance from $350 to $300 per teacher. Ringo spoke out against the freezing of the teacher salary grid. “I think that the recommendation unfairly targets just certain teachers,” she said. “It not only piles on personnel cost reductions to the basic percent pay reduction, but it also does not distribute it fairly.”