South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

MNEA negotiator takes issue with Palamand’s pay-hike statement

To the editor:

A May 17 article by Kari Williams concerning the Mehlville Board of Education’s most recent meeting has prompted me to correct some misconceptions.

A statement attributed to board President Venki Palamand concerning a 5-percent increase in salary over the next two years is misleading and disingenuous at best. No increase to the base salary was made.

The Mehlville School District’s base salary remains 22nd out of 23 St. Louis County school districts.

The “raise” is simply advancement by some teachers on the salary schedule/ladder. Thirteen percent of the teachers will receive no additional salary next year.

After being frozen on last year’s schedule, teachers have hardly received a windfall and remain some of the most poorly paid educators in St Louis.

Michael Ghormley

Lemay

Editor’s note: Michael Ghormley served as the chief negotiator for the Mehlville National Education Association in discussions on the recently approved memorandum of understanding with the Board of Education.

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