Fontana: Teachers should be upset with raise

By Chris Rosa

One Vermilion Parish School Board member said teachers throughout the state should be upset with the state legislators because they gave themselves a 210 percent pay raise.

Legislators’ pay raise will increase from $16,800 to $37,500 a year.

Fontana, speaking at last week’s school board, addressed his concerns to the 11 teachers in the audience.

“You will never get paid what you are worth if you don’t expect it and claim your worth,” Fontana said. “They (state) give you a $1,000 pay raise which comes to about $70 per month and everyone gets all excited because the legislature and the governor kept their promise.”

The School Board voted to send a resolution to Gov. Bobby Jindal, and the parish’s legislators.

The resolution will compliment the parish’s legislators for opposing the pay hike and “having the courage to stand up because only the Acadiana legislators stood together to oppose this outrageous display of public arrogance,” Fontana said.

“It is such an insult to our teachers,” he added. “Year in and year out, it seems the legislature can find money for politicians to get whatever pay they want. The judges got a pay raise two years ago. This time it is a pay raise for the legislature and we can not find money for education at a time where education is having cuts and health care is having cuts. To raise their own salaries is appalling.”

Fontana said the resolution sent to Gov. Jindal encourages him to keep his campaign promise and veto the raise. On Thursday at a press conference in Baton Rouge, Jindal said he still plans to allow the pay raise to become a law. He has until July 8 to veto it.

“It is total hypocrisy for Jindal and the legislative leaders to keep talking about legislative reform and demand in the classroom that education is the key to the state’s success. Year in and year out they promise and don’t deliver.”

He said the legislature continues to kick the teachers in the mouth each year by demanding more from them but not giving them more money for it.

“It is appalling. If ya’ll (teachers) don’t get off your butts and do something about it, you deserve it,” Fontana said.