Watson Chapel teachers walk out in protest of salary pay

Little Rock, Arkansas – Teachers in the Watson Chapel School District leave the building to demonstrate against what they claim is unfair compensation.

Teachers expressed a desire for fair treatment.

“We are making less than what custodians are making,” said dyslexia interventionist, Rosalind Robinson. “Everybody’s salary is not equal.”

During the protest, educators, students, and neighborhood activists carried homemade placards with the words “devalued” and “fair pay for all.”

The Watson Chapel Administration Office was direct across the street from where the protest was held.

Teachers at the demonstration alleged that administrators have received wage increases far more quickly than everyone else.

“They have gotten raises for themselves and not for the teachers and not for anyone else for the last three years,” said a Watson Chapel School District teacher, Yevette Hammond.

Robinson claimed that she has firsthand experience with unequal compensation across the district.

“A person has been there for 30 years and I’ve been at the district for 8 years,” said Robinson. “How is it that a person that has been at the district for 31 years is making the same amount of money as me? That’s not correct. Something is not equaling up to the pay.”

Mark Cannon, a local activist, joined the demonstration and claimed a staff member in the administration office received a significant pay raise approved by the late superintendent Jerry Guest.

Tom Wilson, the superintendent of Watson Chapel School District, stated that he was hired five months ago.

“Me coming in new, I inherited all of this,” said Wilson. “This may have been something brewing in the past. I want to sit down and be able to talk about it.”

“I’ve got a great board that will make a decision on how they want to handle it after we look at all of the salary schedules,” said Wilson.

Wilson stated that he had no objections to investigating and informing the board of the circumstance.