Furloughed+teachers+face+uncertain+future

=By Stacy Lee= =//Published in the McKeesport Daily News//= =//8/26/11//= = = = = =As the 2011-12 academic year begins, some teachers won't be returning to the classroom after as the result of furloughs in local districts.= =Teaching is more than just a profession for many of them, including some Steel Valley and West Mifflin Area teachers who spoke out about the layoffs.= ="It really is a calling," said Jill Fleming-Salopek, furloughed Steel Valley High School English department chair. "For most teachers, it's a calling. I've been told a million times, 'Just go into another profession,' but I love what I do. We've dedicated our education, our finances, our time and our money to it."= ="It's your life," furloughed Steel Valley business teacher Ryan Dunmire added.= =Steel Valley School District furloughed a total of 33 teachers over the spring and summer.= =Furloughed West Mifflin Area High School civics teacher Todd Kinavey said he used to be a paralegal, but left to become an educator.= ="I became a teacher for a reason," Kinavey said. "It was because I felt a calling and I had a passion about it. I can't tell you how much I love the job I've had for the last four years. I had never been happier. I wake up every day happy to go to work. This is my dream job and I've lost my dream job."= =Kinavey was among 28 teachers furloughed in his district.= =Pennsylvania School Code doesn't allow school districts to furlough teachers for economic reasons. It only allows districts to cut teachers for one of four reasons closing a school, merging with another district, curtailing programs and declining enrollment.= =High school physical education teacher Julie Miller had been teaching in Steel Valley for 2 1⁄2 years. She left nearby South Allegheny School District for Steel Valley and would have had seniority at her old job had she remained at SA.= ="I've been looking out of state for jobs," she said. "They've had maybe four jobs around this area available, but I received no call-backs. Phys ed can be hard because you normally only have a few teachers in the entire district. Our classes are a little bigger than a normal classroom."= =Miller currently is coaching varsity girls volleyball at Steel Valley.= ="It's hard coaching right now and going into the school knowing I'm not going to be able to do teaching when school starts," she said. "I don't know anything else."= =Fleming-Salopek taught at Steel Valley for nine years and then left for Gateway Middle School for a year. She had been back at Steel Valley for five years.= ="If I would have stayed at Gateway, I wouldn't have been furloughed," Fleming-Salopek said. "If I would have stayed at Steel Valley or been given credit for my nine years prior, I would have been the second-highest senior member of the English Department."= =Dunmire taught at Steel Valley for five years.= ="I had two interviews this summer," she said. "One I was too qualified for and the other I wasn't qualified enough for."= =Kinavey and fellow WMA teachers received their furlough notices on Teachers Appreciation Day on May 3. He received a Teacher of the Year award from the school district this year, as well.= =Dunmire said she's considering moving out of state.= ="I was contemplating doing that last week, to go down to Charlotte," she said. "I had a job opportunity down there. The more I thought about it, I would have to sell my house up here first. There just wasn't enough time in the day to get my house on the market up here and go find a place to live down there."= =Some furloughed Steel Valley teachers were denied unemployment a few weeks ago.= ="There is some inconsistency in it because there are some teachers that weren't denied," Fleming-Salopek said. "Most of us were denied. We initially got our confirmation of approval.= ="We received the (unemployment benefits) card and were doing bi-weekly claims. Then at the end of July, we received a letter saying we were denied because we were not eligible to collect until (Sept. 1)."= =She said Steel Valley teachers received paychecks up until Aug. 19, but they were for services rendered.= =Steel Valley teachers receive their salary in 26 bi-weekly payments throughout the year, instead of 10 months.= =Steel Valley school board business manager Mark Cherpak didn't return calls by presstime on whether the district is fighting the unemployment.= =The furloughed Steel Valley teachers' last day of employment was June 8 and were officially furloughed on May 25.= =Kinavey received payment from West Mifflin Area in one lump sum after his furlough.= ="My last paycheck was June 17," he said. "I received no money since then."= =Steel Valley did not offer teachers a lump sum after they were furloughed, district teachers said.= ="My husband and I both work," Fleming-Salopek said. "We have three children at home. I can't live on one income. I don't think we live above our means."= =She said she's not struggling right now, but is nervous about what's to come.= ="I'm 28 and I taught in Maryland for a year," Dunmire said. "I came back here to teach in my home district. I graduated from Steel Valley. I have my own house and my own car. I pay my school loans.= ="All of that is so overwhelming to think about. I'm fine now, but for that month and a half. It's not my fault that this happened. I'm starting to get panic attacks because this has never happened before. I think about financing and the future is going to come out."= =The teachers said Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act health insurance is too expensive for them to pay month to month.= ="Health insurance just to continue is $515 (per month) in COBRA for a single person," Dunmire said.= ="I still have 13 years paying $500 a month on my student loans," Fleming-Salopek said. "I did my undergraduate at Pitt and my graduate at Duquesne University."= =She's now back in school for her administrator's certificate at California University of Pennsylvania and tuition just went up.= =Dunmire earned her master's degree in sports management last year at Cal U.= ="I got it in sports management because of the class that I was teaching at Steel Valley," she said.= =Kinavey and Dunmire said it's very expensive to go back to school right now especially when you don't have a steady income and are paying off loans.= =Dunmire said she will try to do some testing to qualify for other certifications.= ="If nothing shows up, I will move next year," she said. "I'll have enough time to put my house on the market."= =Kinavey said he probably will have to take a substitute job as West Mifflin Area offers its furloughed teachers that guarantee them work throughout the school year.= ="I'm going back to square one," he said. "This is how I got my job subbing. I'll be taking a $27,000 pay cut to do this."= =Pennsylvania State Education Association and American Federation of Teachers Union offered seminars for teachers who were furloughed or facing possible furloughs.= = Read more: [|Furloughed teachers face uncertain future - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = = = =News= =home=