Though Gov. Kathleen Blanco has been promising a teacher pay raise all week, local teachers are afraid the raise will be too little and probably too late.

Blanco has said she wants to discuss the idea of raising taxes on cigarettes, gambling and alcohol to finance a $1,000 raise for the state’s teachers, an amount that falls short of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers’ request of $2,000 a year for three years.

&uot;I think it will happen to a certain degree,&uot; Vidalia Junior High teacher Sarah Cotton said. &uot;But I don’t think it is going to be anything substantial.&uot;

Cotton, who teaches eighth-grade reading, has been a Louisiana teacher for 24 years and said a substantial raise is something she’s been waiting on. Louisiana ranks 48th nationally in average teacher pay at $38,700, a number $3,900 below the regional average.

VJHS’s Derinda Smith said she thought increased taxes on cigarettes and alcohol would be a good start. But she would like to see the legislature dig a little deeper to find existing money in the budget for the raises.

&uot;If it wasn’t for my husband working, with my 20-year-old daughter in college, on my salary, if I was head of the household, I’d be at poverty level,&uot; Smith said. &uot;The governor was previously a schoolteacher, and I’m hoping that she hasn’t gotten political and forgotten where she came from.&uot;

Ferriday High School English teacher Virginia Robertson said she’s looked into all possible avenues to increase her salary including National Board Certification and a master’s degree.

&uot;We really need to come up to the average,&uot; Robertson said. &uot;A substantial pay raise is really long overdue. You have to look into other ways of developing yourself on a professional level.&uot;

Smith said she uses paid after-school activities and workshops with the district to subsidize her salary. The district and each school offer several programs teachers can participate in for additional money.

Robertson agreed proposed sin taxes are a good idea. &uot;Tax them,&uot; she said. &uot;We all have our vices, but there’s no good in (tobacco). It’s a vice that should be taxed and it would generate some money.&uot;

Though teachers said making a living is a top concern, they all said the raise boils down to how high education is on the government’s priority list. &uot;It’s very difficult to try to talk a young person into going into teaching because of the lack of support we have,&uot; Cotton said. &uot;Within the last year I’ve looked at my options and looked at teaching in Natchez. We do have to pay bills.&uot;

Mississippi teacher pay is below the regional average but higher than Louisiana’s.

&uot;As a teacher I have to say education should be one of the top priorities,&uot; Smith said. &uot;For every doctor, attorney, businessman and mechanic, they have to go through a teacher first.&uot;

Cotton said education should be the No. 1 priority. &uot;The children coming through the schools will be our leaders for the future,&uot; she said. &uot;If they are not well educated then we’ve lost the future. Everything else depends on education.&uot;

Concordia teachers recently got a small raise when the school board approved a raise of 2.5 percent of base salary raise for certified employees and 5 percent for non-certified employees. The raise was due to financial success on the local level. The Louisiana legislative session will start in April.