| Comment Number: | OL-10509954 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 9:53:40 PM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
From my viewpoint, the federal government does not value or promote education. In the educational arena, teachers and principals get extra pay for earning an additional degree. A friend of mine who works for state government informed me that he will get a $10,000 pay increase for completing his master's degree. Within the federal government, an employee with a high school diploma is paid the same as an employee with a Masters or Ph.D. Under the new NSPS I would like to see this change. What incentive does a person have for attaining a degree if they know that they can get paid the same amount as someone with a degree? In my opinion, no one in the federal government should attain a GS-14 or GS-15 unless he/she has at least a bachelor's degree. While job experience is important; education should be of equal importance. In addition to getting paid for degrees, I believe employees should receive extra pay for completing certificate programs, especially those offered by the National Defense University at Ft McNair (Information Assurance, Chief Information Officer, eGovernment, etc). I was told that employees at the Dept of State receive up to a 15% increase. This should be implemented at the DOD. Additionally, it disturbs me that individuals with advanced degrees are forced to report to individuals with only a high school diploma. This is very degrading. The military would never uphold such actions. I have never seen a Colonel report to a Major. If military officers and interns are required to have degrees, why shouldn't senior level civilians? Let's be fair about both civilian and military workforces. The military clearly has a more fair system. All persons are evaluated on "equal footing" based on members having earned advanced degrees and completing certain professional military education.