Concordia Parish teachers are taking a wait-and-see attitude to the Legislature’s promises to raise their salaries to the Southern regional average.

&uot;I don’t know if I’m going to believe anything until I see it in my check,&uot; said Sarah Cotton, an eighth-grade teacher at Vidalia Junior High School.

Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill last Thursday creating a 3-percent tax increase for the state’s 14 riverboat casinos.

The $140 million generated will fund a salary increase for teachers and university professors, but it may not be enough to satisfy Louisiana teachers, many of whom say they are long overdue for a raise.

The tax will provide only a $2,000 salary increase for teachers – not the $3,600 needed to bring them to the Southern regional average.

Despite promises from Gov. Mike Foster to increase teacher salaries even more during this year’s Legislative session, local teachers remain skeptical.

&uot;I’m pretty sure we’re all a little gun shy,&uot; Cotton said.

Cotton, who has taught for 28 years, said one of her concerns is what the low salaries will do to the future of education.

&uot;This is really not about me,&uot; Cotton said. &uot;This is about these young teachers and whether we are going to be able to attract them&uot;.

With low salaries it is going to be difficult for Louisiana to attract qualified teachers, Cotton said.

&uot;I’m just not sure that the $2,000 is going to be sufficient to make us competitive,&uot; Cotton said.

She can understand the Legislature’s situation but she also thinks teachers have been put on the &uot;backburner&uot; for so long already.

Sherry Barfield, an eighth-grade teacher at Vidalia Junior High School, is also not sure what to believe.

&uot;We hope that everything is going to be as they say, but we’ve been let down in the past,&uot; she said.

Barfield also wishes that support people, such as teachers’ assistants and other hourly workers, had been included in the $2,000 salary increase.

&uot;I’m pleased that we’re going to get something, but it is sort of a mixed blessing because we were hoping they would include support persons,&uot; Barfield said.

It takes all of the employees to educate the children, she said.

Lisa Cater, a first-grade teacher at Ferriday Lower Elementary, said she has worked in a number of different occupations before becoming a teacher so she does not see the salary as inadequate compared to that of some other jobs in Concordia Parish.

She would like a pay raise but she is not insistent upon it to keep teaching.

&uot;It would be nice if it were larger but there are a lot of things that would be nice if we had it,&uot; such as full-time teacher-assistants and extra school supplies so teachers no longer need to spend their own money for supplies for their students, Cater said.

And no matter what her salary, Cater does not think it will have an impact on her teaching.

&uot;I’m going to do my job to the best of my ability because I chose this job, and I knew the pay when I took it,&uot; Cater said.