Is the money there?

For some, though, the issue of salaries isn’t a matter of paying someone what they may be worth, but a matter of paying what you can afford.

Adams County Supervisor Mike Lazarus said in tight budget times, the county has focused on saving money, and that’s often meant overlooking overdue employee raises.

Lazarus said he is con-cerned to see what he considers to be exceptionally high salaries for some school district employees when Adams County has employees who have to work for $9 or $10 an hour.

“It is not fair that they get paid what they do and our (employees) never get a raise,” he said. “I am all for the teacher getting paid, but when you pay an athletic director $82,000 a year — that’s more than the sheriff makes,” Lazarus said.

But Barnett said it’s not really fair to compare educators to county employees, since many of the county jobs don’t require degrees.

He also said supervisors making approximately $40,000 a year don’t work full time as a supervisor, though like school administrators, he said, they’re on call.

Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell agreed that education professionals should be compensated at a rate that takes into consideration their own educational background and experience.

“I think in my opinion, professionals should be remunerated properly,” he said. “These individuals went off and got various types of degrees, master’s degrees and doctorates and other certifications, and worked hard for many years.

“Education is a profession, and I think professionals should be remunerated accordingly — teachers and administrators should be paid as professionals.”