July 02, 2008
Golden apples for teachers
The economy is tanking. Consumer confidence is plunging. Property taxpayers are screaming. But you wouldn't know it from recent teachers' contracts in New York State.
Take, for instance, the newly ratified collective bargaining agreements in the Rondout Valley and Akron school districts.
In Ulster County, the Rondout Valley school board approved a five-year contract giving teachers a base pay increase of 4 percent annually, or nearly 22 percent over the life of the pact, the Kingston Daily Freeman reported Tuesday. Many, if not most, teachers will receive larger increases thanks to step increments.
The board okayed the contract June 10 and did not make it public until the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Law request. Starting pay will jump from $40,734 under the old contract to $49,559 under the new deal, while top pay will increase from $90,466 to $110,065.
Rondout Valley's new budget increases per-pupil spending 8.3 percent this year .
In the Akron Central School District, in Erie County, the new teacher contract calls for base pay raises of 16.2 percent (not compounded) over four year, reports the Buffalo News. Akron (enrollment: 1,745 students) is increasing per-pupil spending by 7 percent in the coming school year.
Both districts paid handsomely for what appear to be relatively minor concessions from the teachers' unions. In Rondout Valley, teachers agreed to add 10 minutes to the school day and one day to the school year. They also agreed to pay 10 percent of health insurance premiums, instead of 7.5 percent. In Akron, teachers will now pay 15 percent of health insurance, up from 9 percent.
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