Wednesday, the Bertie County Board of Education took the first step in cutting hours and personnel because of reductions in appropriation by the North Carolina General Assembly.

Information about those cuts is on the front page of today’s edition. Startlingly, School Board Vice Chair Pamela Chamblee, as we reported last week, wants to be compensated for any meetings beyond the board’s once-a-month scheduled gathering.

It isn’t the first time she has brought up the issue.

What concerns us is how a person elected to be the representative of the county’s citizens could be so callous as to ask for additional compensation at a time when the school district is cutting personnel.

People are losing their jobs – their very livelihoods. Incredibly, someone who asked the voters to give them a position of authority, which includes making career-altering decisions, is now asking for more money to perform that task.

It is sad and disheartening. Frankly, the citizens of Bertie County deserve better. The employees of Bertie County Schools deserve better.

We understand it is a sacrifice for people to serve their communities, and sometimes that sacrifice is financial. We also understand that public officials ask for the positions they are given. No one holds a gun to their head and forces them to seek public office.

If Pamela Chamblee feels like serving on the Bertie County Board of Education is not worth her while financially, we offer this simple solution: resign.

– The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald