MANILA - As public schools hold their first day of classes today, teachers are staging a protest to demand a pay hike. Over the weekend, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers also held a demonstration at the Quezon Memorial Circle. The group is pushing for entry-level teachers' salaries to be increased to P25,000 a month from the current rate of about P18,000. Another demand is an increase in the monthly pay for non-teaching personnel from P9,000 to P15,000. Teachers had initially threatened to take a mass leave if their demands are not met. But the Palace said it would take a year before any change in salaries would take effect. – ANC