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No - you're not missing anything. Not only Can they, but every item IS renegotiated.
The bargaining sessions do not just last hours or days & consider only the "hot" topics. They go on for weeks or more likely months. Every single item in the contract is discussed in a give & take negotiation. Most items do get carried over from contract to contract however. Most items are noncontroversial and never get discussed publicly. The Hot Button items like % increase & # of years are what the media focuses on, so those are the items reported. Can you imagine a newspaper reporting every single item in a contract. Whew - we'd all fall asleep, and they'd run out of newsprint.
These negotiations are usually done by on the outside appointed by the BOE and the superintendent but they need to sign off on the agreement.
The new contracts are just a rubber stamp of the prior contract for the most part and seem to move in a direction only in favorable to the teachers. The only concession I have seen is the unions paying a minimal increase in health care (1or 2 % increase) while the health costs increase is even greater.
Most school boards don't want to take on the unions and in many cases are connected to them (only have the voters to blame for that). If you want to real change the system it needs to start with the BOE. These COLA's, health benefit increases the BOE's approve need to be made public before the contract is signed, not after.
Yea this ninjacouple character must be a union delegate or something. However, that's how the teachers and other unions and civil servants are able to get away with their theivery - they have an army of clowns who push their propoganda nonsense and then other union leeches defend them.
Yea this ninjacouple character must be a union delegate or something. However, that's how the teachers and other unions and civil servants are able to get away with their theivery - they have an army of clowns who push their propoganda nonsense and then other union leeches defend them.
Yep.
Only two categories of employees are paid significantly MORE on Long Island than in Manhattan:
Police
Public School Teachers (and riding on their coattails, School Administrators who demand the same or more than what teachers get)
They can whine all they want about, "It's EXPENSIVE to live on Long Island, so we must have $$$$!"
They still don't deserve MORE than what NYC teachers and police get. As a matter of fact, NYC teachers and police deserve MORE.
What about all the other professions on Long Island that are paid a lot less (ridiculously less in many cases) than those in Manhattan? What about the private school teachers on Long Island? Is it because the cost of living on Long Island is cheap for these others by some miracle?
Actually, my biggest rant on public school teachers is not the salaries anyway. They can have their 21st century salaries. No problem to me. But they cannot have 1950s style benefits, pensions and tenure to the point they have to kill someone to get fired at the same time.
Yea this ninjacouple character must be a union delegate or something. However, that's how the teachers and other unions and civil servants are able to get away with their theivery - they have an army of clowns who push their propoganda nonsense and then other union leeches defend them.
Not a delegate. Just a member. x-airline employee who took a pay and benefits cut to "save" the company. I can tell you from personal experience that cutting pay and benefits does nothing more than lower the living standards of all middle class americans while the rich get richer scenerio plays out.
I did a random search to demonstrate how union contracts are pretty similar for skilled trades ect. Notice the pension and benefits... pretty common in the skilled/educated unions. Teachers on average are not overpaid and the 20 step increases benefit the taxpayer as you can clearly see in the average salaries being well below the top salaries always being paraded around in newsrags.
Let them bargain in good faith. Stop with the emotional "fire them all" or "freeze all the pay" hysteria. Thats what it has become, fueled by slanted articles and anti-union rhetoric.
You want your pensions back in the private sector then negotiate it back. The 401k experiement didnt work for anyone but the rich who managed to increase their income 1000 fold payed for through the capital raised in the markets that was swelling with your retirenment dollars.
I'd have no problem approving the teachers union bloated contracts if it directly related to better teachers and education. It doesn't link. We could cut comp by 15% tomorrow without losing any quality within our schools.
The fact of the matter is there is no pay for performance incentive at all, stick around long enough, don't commit a major felony and you'll keep your job and advance up the pay scale. Good teacher or bad, doesn't matter. I'll gladly pay a top notch educator a premium to teach my kids. What's rediculous is paying the lousy teacher the same premium with no practical way to performance manage the teacher out.
I'd have no problem approving the teachers union bloated contracts if it directly related to better teachers and education. It doesn't link. We could cut comp by 15% tomorrow without losing any quality within our schools.
The fact of the matter is there is no pay for performance incentive at all, stick around long enough, don't commit a major felony and you'll keep your job and advance up the pay scale. Good teacher or bad, doesn't matter. I'll gladly pay a top notch educator a premium to teach my kids. What's rediculous is paying the lousy teacher the same premium with no practical way to performance manage the teacher out.
That is an area of improvement I can agree upon. The problem is what to base the criteria on. We can probably all agree that a teachers role is only as effective as a childs home environment. Remember on this board if a student does well it because of the parents but if a student does poorly its the teachers fault.
Not a delegate. Just a member. x-airline employee who took a pay and benefits cut to "save" the company. I can tell you from personal experience that cutting pay and benefits does nothing more than lower the living standards of all middle class americans while the rich get richer scenerio plays out.
I did a random search to demonstrate how union contracts are pretty similar for skilled trades ect. Notice the pension and benefits... pretty common in the skilled/educated unions. Teachers on average are not overpaid and the 20 step increases benefit the taxpayer as you can clearly see in the average salaries being well below the top salaries always being paraded around in newsrags.
Let them bargain in good faith. Stop with the emotional "fire them all" or "freeze all the pay" hysteria. Thats what it has become, fueled by slanted articles and anti-union rhetoric.
You want your pensions back in the private sector then negotiate it back. The 401k experiement didnt work for anyone but the rich who managed to increase their income 1000 fold payed for through the capital raised in the markets that was swelling with your retirenment dollars.
BTW Patchogue-Medford budget passed.
Well, I guess we could, but only if:
Employers were held captive like taxpayers are and had a scenario similar to ours ("We will raise your real estate taxes AS MUCH AS WE WANT and we will not take into account how 'profitable' you and your family are either. If you do not pay all or part of them, we will take away your home").
Who has that kind of leverage over their employer?
Did you ever stop to think why pensions are no longer offered? Could it be because they are no longer feasible in this economic climate and have not been for a long time?
Yet you and others like you think taxpaying families can provide these things when businesses haven't done so in decades.
I'd have no problem approving the teachers union bloated contracts if it directly related to better teachers and education. It doesn't link. We could cut comp by 15% tomorrow without losing any quality within our schools.
The fact of the matter is there is no pay for performance incentive at all, stick around long enough, don't commit a major felony and you'll keep your job and advance up the pay scale. Good teacher or bad, doesn't matter. I'll gladly pay a top notch educator a premium to teach my kids. What's rediculous is paying the lousy teacher the same premium with no practical way to performance manage the teacher out.
That's about all unions do these days.
They are completely outdated.
Federal and state laws are in place to give the important protections unions used to have to fight for.
That is an area of improvement I can agree upon. The problem is what to base the criteria on. We can probably all agree that a teachers role is only as effective as a childs home environment. Remember on this board if a student does well it because of the parents but if a student does poorly its the teachers fault.
And if a student and school district does well, who is the first group to run in and take all the credit? (And not just "on this board.")
Unions and public school teachers bask in ALL the self-proclaimed glory!
You can't have it both ways.
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