Educators turn out in numbers for county budget hearing

(The Stokes News) - Stokes County residents had the floor in Danbury on Monday night as the Stokes County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on the proposed 2008-09 budget. Of the nearly 50 citizens present, most had come in support of an experience-based salary schedule for teachers’ assistants.

Doris Meachum, Pam Hall, and Crystal Vinyard, all of whom had spoken recently at a Board of Education meeting, took the microphone once more. Meachum, a teacher’s assistant at King Elementary with 29 years of experience, reiterated the fact that there hasn’t been a true raise for teachers’ assistants since 1990. She informed the board that although these employees are required to be highly trained, there is no monetary compensation in return.

Hall, also a teacher’s assistant at King Elementary with 30 years of experience, told of instances where she had taken an actual teacher’s place yet still had remained at the same salary for many years.