VIDALIA &045; The candidates in the District 3, Place B school board race are all in favor of teacher and support staff pay raises, but finding the money is another story.

Incumbent Darrell &uot;Bubba&uot; Crofford said the parish needed a bigger tax base in order to pay teachers and school workers what they deserve.

&uot;It’s a bad time,&uot; he said. &uot;A lot of people are out of work and a lot of people aren’t making any money at all right now. All the teachers really need a raise, but whether we can afford it right now is the issue.&uot;

Republican Jerry Roberts agreed saying he supported raises, but knew it would be hard to find the money.

&uot;There is money there, it just needs to be found,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;You have to re-look at the budget because they certainly deserve it. We have one of the best school systems and we need to keep these teachers that we have.&uot;

Democratic candidate Bill Staggs said his intentions were to recommend pay raises.

&uot;I can’t promise anything yet,&uot; he said. &uot;But there is some money that is spent on things that I think we can trim.&uot;

Other issues the candidates stressed included improving the overall quality of education and the conditions in the schools.

&uot;We have to continue getting qualified teachers and upgrading our facilities,&uot; Crofford said. &uot;We’ve made some major steps in the last six years by putting new roofs on buildings and paving parking lots.&uot;

Crofford said other areas of concern included Leap test scores and the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Roberts said he thought there was a good system in place in the district, but it was time for some new ideas.

&uot;I just want to improve the value of education for each one of our kids in Concordia Parish,&uot; Roberts said.

Roberts said he was the only candidate in the race with children in the school district and stressed the importance of parental involvement.

Staggs said safety in the schools was a top priority for him.

&uot;The school system needs better protection of the kids,&uot; Staggs said. &uot;Some of the people (administrators and board members) are not taking the responsibility they need to take.&uot;

Staggs said the district needs better enforcement of disciplinary rules to end favoritism.

&uot;I’m not looking for something to promote me on to mayor or president,&uot; Staggs said. &uot;I feel like if elected I can do those things that need to be done if I can get help from the other eight members.&uot;

District 5, Place B

Challenger Lonnie Hughes and Incumbent Ernest Lynn White both said they wanted to see better test scores from the children of Concordia Parish.

&uot;Exams are coming up and scores are not really where I’d like to see them be,&uot; Hughes said.

White said the district was currently working hard to improve those scores.

Both Hughes and White are in support of pay raises for teachers and support staff.

White said the current board was working right now to increase rates paid to school bus drivers, and he felt it was time to review teacher salaries again.

Hughes said he would like to see more ethical values taught in the schools.

&uot;I don’t see our children as a whole respecting the schools and the teachers,&uot; he said.