Bell may toll for teacher

House District 20 Republican candidate Dickie Bell has been told he will not be granted paid leave from his Augusta County teaching position to serve in the General Assembly should he be elected.

Bell said he would accept an unpaid leave and that is what he requested, but was told by letter by Superintendent Gary McQuain last week that a paid leave would not be granted for the two-month session that starts in January 2010.

If he wins the House 20 race against Democrat Erik Curren in November, Bell has asked to speak to the Augusta County School Board at its Nov. 5 meeting. The meeting is two days after the election.

Should the school board not agree to an unpaid leave for 39 school days in 2010, Bell has said he would have to consider “retiring or resigning’’ as a teacher. Bell said he plans to serve as a delegate if elected.

Both political experts and elected officials say Virginia’s part-time citizen legislature has great benefits, because it keeps representatives closer to their constituents.

But the experts say the entry to the legislature is often limited to those who have the resources and flexibility to do it.

“The benefit of a citizen legislature is that it is closer to the people,’’ said Christopher Newport University political scientist Quentin Kidd. “But the gateway of entry is narrow and limited to businessmen, lawyers or farmers who can carve out the time.”

The Virginia General Assembly is represented by numerous business people and business owners and 37 attorneys.

There are educators as well, including a college professor, an administrator, two retired educators and four active K-12 teachers.

The major issue regarding Bell is whether the school district can find a substitute to handle Bell’s special education teaching while he is in Richmond, said James Madison University political scientist Bob Roberts.

In his letter to Bell, McQuain made note of the “critical shortage’’ of special ed teachers.

But Roberts said Virginia has a history of legislators who have public jobs such as former Rockingham Sen. Kevin Miller, who taught at JMU.
Bell works in a department of four special ed teachers and those teachers have a caseload of 15 students.

“There would be some extra work but I have already discussed it with the department head in the building,’’ Bell said.

Virginia is among the 40 U.S. states that have part-time legislatures.

But Virginia is not among the 20 states that place no restrictions on legislators holding other employment at the state or local level, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The pay for Virginia legislators is not sufficient to live on.

Senate members make $18,000 annually and House members $17,640. Legislators receive a per diem during the legislative session of just over $130 per day that pays for a room and food, said Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave.

Landes, who works as a community relations coordinator for DuPont Community Credit Union, said he does not get paid by his regular employer while busy on the Virginia House floor.

Landes may have time to do one or two hours of a work a night for his employer during scattered periods of the legislative session.

Landes likes the concept of a part-time Virginia legislature, and hopes it stays that way.

“It helps to have a representative who lives and works in the area they represent,’’ he said. “It helps to have people in other professions to understand what people are facing each day.”

Landes would not like to see a legislature composed solely of retired and independently wealthy representatives.

Kidd said most states prefer to err on the side of having a citizen legislature.

“Do you want your delegate accessible nine months a year, or do you want your delegate largely inaccessible and in the capitol?” Kidd asked.

He said despite its imperfections, a part-time legislature is better.