5% raise for teachers in Richmond

Richmond Public Schools' Superintendent has proposed a budget that mentions a 5% raise for its teachers. 

Superintendent Jason Kamras' budget asks for $19 million which will be used for the raises, more custodians, 10 new bus drivers, and two more staffers in the district's new school construction office. Richmond Public Schools are asking the city for $22 million extra in funding, up from $185 million last year. The extra funding is to cope with the $26 million increase in the budget to prioritize new investments and cover the state funding shortfall. The raise would bring the total salary of teachers to $64,000 pa. 

To make up for the additional costs, Kamras plans to cut $4 million from the central office. Some of the positions in the central office that might get cut are the director of Future Centre, manager of alternative education and associate director of curriculum and instruction. All in all 16 positions are on the chopping block. The school board commented that the central office is definitely important for the functioning of the school as seen by when they covered classrooms to keep the school functioning. However, they believe that the priority right now is holding schools harmless, thus the tough decision. 

Source: Richmond-Times Dispatch