In a recent article in the Press of Atlantic City, a State fact-finder recommended pay increases for Mullica Township teachers that were below the increases requested by the MTEA. The findings seemed to walk the delicate line between the current economic climate and the expectation that salaries should at least keep up with inflation. For more on this, see the article in yesterday's paper here.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
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12 comments:
MTEA was/is willing to accept the Fact Finder's report - and did so before it was issued. The Board has yet to accept it - in fact, they are requesting additional concessions - when is enough enough for the BOE and when will they stop wasting taxpayer money - Fact Finding has already cost each side $4,000 plus - if the Fact Finder gives clarification, she probably charges extra for that - the next step in the process costs too.
The MTEA had already agreed to accept the Fact-Finders recommendation. The results were not what they were expecting. Now the MTEA is planning to file for additional mediations.
The recommendations were 3% for last year,1.3% for this year and 3.7% for 2011-2012. Based on an avg. district salary of $56,890, they would only pay $854 a YEAR for health coverage. People in the private sector are paying more than that a MONTH! Even the private sector raises dropped below 3% for those still lucky enough to have a job.
And last year, according to SS recipients,the government said that there was no inflation and therefore NO raises in their checks.
Please settle this already! You're all looking quite greedy to the rest of us who are pinching our pennies to survive.
How is the BOE going to be able to keep a 2% cap on the budget if they give a 3.7% increase next year? Will they start cutting teachers,increase class sizes and eliminate anything extra for the kids?
Re: 8:01
The MTEA is not planning for additional mediations because of the report. They have to because the BOE will not accept the report. The MTEA accepted it sight unseen and the BOE is refusing to accept it. The next step in the process is more mediation. If the BOE would accept the report the contract would be settled. Please don't blame the teachers. The BOE is prolonging the process.
There should be further negotiations without paid-for state mediators soon.
The MTEA seems in need of defining who is a good guy and who is a bad guy constantly in this process, thus their emphasis on some things which are not the crux issues. Vital issues include the economic realities that the district is faced with, the below bare-bones funding that this school year is already handling, loss of field trips, teachers, staff, etc. and future restrictions on raising the budget, either through taxes or state funding.
The MTEA expects higher percentages than the average teacher-school settlements in the past few months ( see Diane D'amico's recent article in the Press). By the next meeting between MTEA and the board, it is hoped that ACCURATE math is used, that there is realization that the differences are small, that no one is the 'bad guy' and that egos have to shrink so the CHILDREN can be best served by both sides, who claim to have their interest at heart.
Isn't it a fact that these increases are in the total amount of money that will be in the salary package? My understanding in the past is that the teachers then apply this money to the salary guide as they see fit, usually on the steps which affect the majority of senior teachers. This means that some teachers will get more than the percentage and some less.
Isn't it also true that the teachers will get a salary increase just by automatically going to the next step of the existing guide each year?
This is all very misleading and confusing, but I think that the majority of taxpayers will only be satisfied if there is no increase for next year.
Re 11:38
the 2% cap is on the total bucget increase - with some things areas not included in that cap. A 3.7% increase on salaries doesn't equate to the amount of 2% of the total budget - although that is the way the BOE seems to think - check the numbers
How is the BOE justifying the 3% plus raises they gave to administration? Did they think about the 2% cap when they did that?
Re 11:08:
While it's true that the % is based on the total salary amount and it is then spread throughout the salary guides, it is not true that most of the money goes to senior staff. Historically, those at the top get less then those below them, with the first few steps getting the least. When comparing total dollars spent at each step, it may look like the top gets more, but that is where the majority of the staff is, so the total is spread among many more people then the lower steps.
re 8:48 am
You confuse me. The third paragraph from the bottom states that the school board was happy with the report.
Obviously the BOE weren't "happy with the report" if they wanted to make changes to it before they would accept it!
Re: 3:14
Sorry... I was just pointing out that the MTEA was not asking for more mediation as a result of the report. They have no choice if the BOE will not accept it. The MTEA accepted it before it was even published no matter what it said. If the BOE was happy why are they not accepting the report? i'm not pointing fingers just explaining that both sides have to move onto the next step in the process.
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