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In a district like Brentwood where the teachers have already agreed to a pay cut, voting down the budget means many many layoffs.
In other districts, teachers should be sitting down in union meetings and agreeing to freezes and/or cuts. It's the right thing to do in this current situation, unfortunately some civil servants had lobbied for raises without any sense of conscience.
Brentwood students and parents should be rallying in the streets to restore their state aid. That would get the attention of Dave PAterson and the media.
In my opinion, it is the job of a union to get the very best deal that they possibly can for their members. You can easily obtain a pay freeze or cut without having to pay union dues. Personally, I think that the teachers unions on Long Island are, as a whole, very weak. I don't think the auto workers or any other union would agree to give something up without getting something in return.
How about not having a bunch of their colleagues getting laid off when the budgets don't pass because of 15% property tax increases? Also, despite what the fire breathers on this website and other local sqwawk boards will tell you, the vast majority of teachers care about their communities, and they see their neighbors struggling (or their own spouses unemployed or underemployed) and can't in good conscience fight for increases knowing what's going on..at least I know this is the case in my wifes district, where at meetings the "we shouldn't give an inch crowd" was vastly outnumbered by the "how can we justify this?" crowd and a pay freeze with increase in medical contributions was agreed on. I think the budget will still go down because there is a small increase due to state funding being cut, and in this climate no increase is acceptable, but they at least were reasonable.
Brentwood students and parents should be rallying in the streets to restore their state aid. That would get the attention of Dave PAterson and the media.
And where is that going to come from? As much as Patterson is hated, what exactly is he supposed to do with the budget situation? You're trying to shift blame so that the problem goes away..it isn't going away. If Patterson restores funding, the money has to come from somewhere else and needs to be funded by more taxes or more borrowing or other cuts that will have some other interest group screaming their heads off calling for his head...people need a reality check.
How about not having a bunch of their colleagues getting laid off when the budgets don't pass because of 15% property tax increases? Also, despite what the fire breathers on this website and other local sqwawk boards will tell you, the vast majority of teachers care about their communities, and they see their neighbors struggling (or their own spouses unemployed or underemployed) and can't in good conscience fight for increases knowing what's going on..at least I know this is the case in my wifes district, where at meetings the "we shouldn't give an inch crowd" was vastly outnumbered by the "how can we justify this?" crowd and a pay freeze with increase in medical contributions was agreed on. I think the budget will still go down because there is a small increase due to state funding being cut, and in this climate no increase is acceptable, but they at least were reasonable.
I think, in a way, we are both getting to the same point.
Teachers, by their nature, are very concerned about their fellow teachers, the community, and most of all the students. This leads to a weakness in their negotiations because most really care. Further, teachers are prohibited by law from striking, so they do not have the one major tool that is available to other unions. Other unions would not put up with the choice of pay freeze vs. layoffs without getting something in return.
A reasonable response that a union might have to this request would be: OK, we'll freeze pay for one year, but we want it made up next year.
Just as an aside, in your wife's district did they agree to a total freeze or are they still getting their step increase? I have heard that no district has yet given up their step. (They are asking teachers here in Northport to do that.)
I think, in a way, we are both getting to the same point.
Teachers, by their nature, are very concerned about their fellow teachers, the community, and most of all the students. This leads to a weakness in their negotiations because most really care. Further, teachers are prohibited by law from striking, so they do not have the one major tool that is available to other unions. Other unions would not put up with the choice of pay freeze vs. layoffs without getting something in return.
A reasonable response that a union might have to this request would be: OK, we'll freeze pay for one year, but we want it made up next year.
Just as an aside, in your wife's district did they agree to a total freeze or are they still getting their step increase? I have heard that no district has yet given up their step. (They are asking teachers here in Northport to do that.)
Not sure about the next step increase. Whatever her last step increase was, it was mostly negated by the increase in medical contribution.
Albany is mismanaged and corrupt. Of that, I am certain. However, why do people think that tossing money at our problems will fix things? Having Albany toss money at Brentwood does not fix the fact that the current employment conditions there are unsustainable. They cannot pay these salaries, with these benefits, and these huge pensions.
As baby boomers age and live longer, we will effectively be paying for at least TWO teaching forces at the same time. One will be in our schools. The other will be in Florida.
Unions can only survive as long as the goose continues to lay the Golden Egg. That time is running out.
Albany is mismanaged and corrupt. Of that, I am certain. However, why do people think that tossing money at our problems will fix things? Having Albany toss money at Brentwood does not fix the fact that the current employment conditions there are unsustainable. They cannot pay these salaries, with these benefits, and these huge pensions.
As baby boomers age and live longer, we will effectively be paying for at least TWO teaching forces at the same time. One will be in our schools. The other will be in Florida.
Unions can only survive as long as the goose continues to lay the Golden Egg. That time is running out.
I don't believe that it is up to Albany to fund decisions that are made at the local level. However, much of a school budget is made up of unfunded mandates from the state. If the state is going to require school districts to provide something, the state should pay for it.
No, but when you said " the last step increase" I kinda assumed that it was a one time event. When I referred to the common man, I was implying every year or for lack of a better term "every step increase".
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