Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
... I am tempted to vote "yes" on the budget in my school district.
Reason being, the budget increase is 1.29% and the tax levy increase is 1.96%. They are trying in our school district. And it's lower than the 2% Tax Cap. And stuff that will be getting lower spending seem to be for adults (like adult ed, concerts at the Village Green, etc.).
I looked up the teachers' contract, but only saw the one that expired last June. Naturally it pays them extra for every little bitty thing they do:
There is also an actual chart showing all the steps.
The teachers' contract even had a "Joint Code of Ethics" on it. Interesting. However, the Boards of the 4 school districts are quite incestuous with the same names popping up on more than one.
Somebody who is smarter than me (lots of you) go to SeeThroughNy.com | Home and go to one of the Valley Stream districts and look at the teachers' contract that expired 6/2010 (it's the same one for all districts) and let me know what you think of it. I am going to find out why the new one isn't on there and where I can get it. So far on the budget it is shown that the costs for teachers will be increasing.
Most of the things you mention (detention teachers, SAT Review, etc) are a minor part of the budget but I really don't think that the district should be paying for things like SAT prep.
The steps on the contract that expired in June 2010 are 3.3 % and the increase for each year is 3.5% for a total of 6.8%. The CPI index over the last contract (2007-2010) was well below the 6.8 % increases that most of the teachers received, They require approval by the BOE and the administration for the teacher to proceed to steps in 3 different areas on the ladder, and the district picks up 80% of health plan.
This contract is fairer than most I have seen, but in my opinion there needs to be a complete wage freeze. There is not much you can do since the new contract is already in place, so you really need to find out what’s in the new one.
***UPDATE*** -- I found the latest teachers' contract
Quote:
Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but
... I am tempted to vote "yes" on the budget in my school district.
Reason being, the budget increase is 1.29% and the tax levy increase is 1.96%.
NOW I am tempted to vote "NO" ... even though the crap has already gone through and they are literally THROWING taxpayer money at the teachers non-stop.
Here's the never ending hit parade of raises for the teachers in my district, right out of the (publicly disclosed) collective bargaining agreement:
Quote:
SALARY
A As set forth in the attached schedules in appendix A:
1. Effective July 1, 2008 all previously existing longevity will be added to the salary schedule and then the salary schedule will be increased by 3.75%. For this school year only, a teacher will receive $600 provided that s/he has completed:
a. seven (7) additional work hours of teacher quality initiative training.
b. The scheduling of these hours will be mutually agreed upon by the District and Association.
c. This compensation will be paid in June.
2. Effective July 1, 2009 the salary schedule will be increased by 3.75%. For this school year only, a teacher will receive $600 provided that s/he has completed:
a. seven (7) additional work hours of teacher quality initiative training.
b. The scheduling of these hours will be mutually agreed upon by the District and Association.
c. This compensation will be paid in June.
3. Effective July 1, 2010 the salary schedule will be increased by $600 at each step and the new salary schedule will be increased by 3.75%.
4. Effective July 1, 2011 the salary schedule will be increased by 3.75%.
5. Effective July 1, 2012 the salary schedule will be increased by 3.75%.
B. Recruitment, Retention and Longevity
1. In each year of this agreement, the following payments will be cumulative:
a. Teachers at steps 1 — 10 will receive a recruitment payment of $500 in each year of this agreement.
b. Teachers at steps 11 — 20 will receive a retention payment of $500 in each year of this agreement.
c. Teachers at steps 21 and above will receive a longevity payment of $500 in each year of this agreement.
C. The parties agree that the attached salary schedules (Appendix A) accurately reflect the compensation to be paid unit members as described in paragraphs A and B above.
D. Any teacher holding National Board Teaching Certification shall receive additional yearly compensation of $3,000.
I'm glad the property taxpayers have so much money to throw around. Also note that NONE OF THIS INFORMATION came in the mail with the information for taxpayers on the upcoming budget vote.
Long Island has a serious problem. The educational system pits the community against each other every May. We need serious discussions on how to stop this practice and level the playing field.
Long Island has a serious problem. The educational system pits the community against each other every May. We need serious discussions on how to stop this practice and level the playing field.
MWHAAAAAHH!!!! Get real, the educational system, aka Teachers Union could give two iotas about the community or having a "level playing field". Level playing field to teachers union equals all money rolling their way, everyone else find your own damn money.
Remember "it's for the children" .
Want to stop the practice? Throw out the unions, each teacher is an independent contractor - you perform, you stay, you don't - out you go - there are 50,000 qualified professional waiting to take your place.
I understand your position but what I really was referring to is the way budgets are handled. We need to make education a statewide issue or at the very least, consolidate districts into a few large districts and distribute tax dollars equally. Right now, you have rich districts and poor districts. Why should Port Jefferson get all the tax subsidies from LIPA? Is it fair that people in that district pay almost no property taxes and they spend considerable more for each student than any other district? Teacher unions are an issue but that's only part of it.
This is completely incorrect. School boards have a legitimate reason for proposing a budget below contingency levels. If a budget is passed by the voters, the board has complete control over how the money is allocated (materials, buildings, courses etc). If a budget fails and the state mandated contingency plan is put in place, the district/board must follow a very rigid lock-step formula that will likely fail to meet the community's needs. For example, under contingency a board may wish to use the money add more classes and lower class size, but instead will have to spend it on upgrading building maintenance.
The discussion is relative to using reserve funds in the proposed budget, and subsequently withdrawing the use of those funds if the budget is defeated. What possible reason would a BOE have for witholding funds from a contingency budget that they previously agreed to commit.
Quote:
The reason they put up a lower than contingency budget is so they can be sure it passes. In fact, you get more bang for your buck out of a smaller passed budget than a larger contigency budget.
Under what circumstances would a contingency budget be lower since since it normally involves removing budget items.(use of schools by the community, supplies, etc.)
Quote:
Contingency means the state mandated budget if the community's budget fails. To vote no insures the 21% increase.
The contingency budget cap for 2011-2012 is 1.92% of the prior year budget not including waivers for certain items.
[LEFT]Year-end fund balances of school districts are the result of the recognition of revenues in excess of amounts estimated and expenditures that are less than the total amount of appropriations. It should be noted that there is no provision in the law or regulations for deficit or negative fund balances.
The total fund balance of a school district's general fund is made up of two parts: Reserved Fund Balance and Unreserved Fund Balance.
The reserved portion of the fund balance is made up of moneys that may be used only for very specific purposes and is, therefore, not available to be used for tax reduction in the next subsequent fiscal year. Examples of these specific reserves are discussed in Section VII of this handbook.
The unreserved portion of the fund balance is the amount which is uncommitted and is, therefore, available to be used to reduce real property taxes in the next fiscal year. It should be noted, however, that a part of this unreserved fund balance may be retained by the district and not used for tax reduction in the next upcoming year. This retained portion is called the unappropriated fund balance and is limited by §1318 of the Real Property Tax Law to an amount equal to 4% of the upcoming year's budget. The remaining portion of the unreserved fund balance that is used for tax reduction, is known as the appropriated fund balance.
The legally retained unappropriated fund balance provides cash flow and could be available to meet unanticipated ordinary contingent expenditures without voter approval. This fund balance may also be appropriated, with voter approval, for unanticipated non-contingent expenditures or the funding of certain reserve funds.
Since the term fund balance could apply to the total fund balance or any part of it, school district officials should be certain that any discussion of disposition of balances begins with a clear statement as to the nature of the balance being discussed.
Managing fund balances can be one of the most difficult tasks of the budgeting process, since budgets are estimates of expenditures and anticipated revenues for a future fiscal period.
Reasonably accurate estimates of year-end fund balances are essential to the budget preparation process since the amount available can have a material effect upon the estimated real property tax rates.[/LEFT]
Last Updated: December 10, 2010 Contact | Research & PolicyUniversity of the State of New York - New York State Education Department
Last edited by 7CatMom; 04-20-2011 at 05:00 PM..
Reason: added link
Goodnight - I just realized that my link and your link go to the same site.
It really is a good resource for people to learn many of the details of budgeting for schools.
I'd say it would answer a lot of questions and might clear up some of the misinformation floating around about what school boards can do and can't do!
Goodnight - I just realized that my link and your link go to the same site.
It really is a good resource for people to learn many of the details of budgeting for schools.
I'd say it would answer a lot of questions and might clear up some of the misinformation floating around about what school boards can do and can't do!
Yes great site for test scores, etc also.
I still don't understand how a contingency budget could be less than the previously proposed budget.
Then you should also believe that in our economy kids should not have sports and extracurricular activities, because EVERYONE should be tightening their belts.
Why does the answer alway seem to be that if we want better education, we need to spend more money. We have been throwing good money after bad for decades and the education system is eroding. Are we getting our money's worth?? Do all Long Islanders get what they pay per pupil? If you can't see that something is serious wrong with the whole system, then there is no hope for you.
To have the audacity to say that the rising cost of education is due to children's sports or extracurricular activities is extremely duplicitous to say the least.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
***UPDATE*** -- I found the latest teachers' contract
.
