To the editor:

Are our taxes being used to pay teachers when they’re not teaching? Each public school teacher is paid based on contracts they sign with their school districts, prepared and signed for each school year during the preceding school years.

COVID-19 has caused districts to adapt virtual learning programs based on how the virus has affected their populations. How will we continue to pay these teachers who are “teaching” in virtual classrooms and currently being paid based on the previous year’s belief that they would be physically present in a classroom with their students for 6 to 6.5 hours per day. This may no longer be the case. Are we to continue to pay teachers based on their alleged “teaching” hours in the traditional classroom?

Realistically, we know in a virtual setting there is no teacher who is sitting in front of a computer instructing students for that amount of time. For what amount of time are we paying them?

This issue needs to be visited prior to the preparation and signing of those contracts for the coming school year. All taxpayers have a right to know that their tax dollars are being spent to pay teachers who are actually working. And for those who insist that teachers invest a large portion of their own financial resources and time preparing and should be compensated for that, anyone who holds a job invests valuable time, energy and their own resources.

Rich Franz
Former Mehlville school board member, 2011 to 2014