Teachers at the Iroquois School District, eyeing annual raises as high as 8 percent, are suggesting the district hold a “yard sale” to sell old equipment, switch to a four-day workweek, or curtail use of substitute teachers. “But a wage cut or freeze is not among their ideas,” reports the Buffalo News (here).

School Board President Susan Brenner noted that residents have complained that teachers are still getting salary increases annually while members in the community have had none or have lost their jobs. “It’s difficult to swallow,” Brenner said. “If the community saw a freeze, it might be more supportive.”

Chris Wilckens, president of the Iroquois Teachers Association, said none of the teachers surveyed offered a wage freeze as a money-saving option.

Brenner said she wondered if the teachers might feel differently if jobs were lost or if classroom sizes swelled to 30 students. [School Trustee Suzanne] Wolff concurred that feedback has been sharp on the salary front. “That’s what I’m getting asked most: is Neil [Rochelle, Iroquois superintendent] ready to take a pay cut? Are the teachers?” Wolff asked.

Teachers in the western New York district are due for sizeable pay hikes in the coming school year, according to PPW’s analysis of the their union contract posted on SeethroughNY.net. Among those with master’s degrees, the smallest percentage raise goes to teachers moving from step 1 to 2, an increase of 3.2 percent. As teachers move up the 24-step ladder, the percentage increases get higher. For example:

  • A teacher now earning $51,500 (step 10) will make a base salary of $54,000 (step 11) during the ’10-’11 school year, an increase of $2,500, or 4.9 percent.
  • A teacher now earning $63,000 (step15) will make a base salary of $67,500 (step 16) next year, an increase of $4,500 or 7.1 percent.
  • A teacher now earning $76,750 (step 20) will make a base salary of $83,050 (step 21), an increase of $6,300, or 8.2 percent.

Last week, the Empire Center posted salaries of 262,000 public school teachers and administrators for the ’08-’09 school year on SeeThroughNY.net.The site also has teacher and school superintendent contracts for 733 school districts and BOCES districts.

Originally Published: NY Public Payroll Watch

You may also like

Meanwhile, on the mandate relief front

Governor Cuomo’s 2012-13 budget, to be presented later today, will command media attention for the rest of the week. Advance reports on his modified pension reform proposal are especially promising. Meanwhile, there’s a (fiscally) cost-free approach to helping local governments and school districts alleviate their budget problems: repealing the Triborough Amendment. Read More

Legislature rejects union arbitration cap

Governor Cuomo’s proposal to cap arbitration awards for police and firefighters is not included in the Senate or Assembly budget bills. This may be blessing in disguise: as argued here, Cuomo’s original proposal didn’t go nearly far enough. Since the arbitration law expires on June 30, the governor remains in a commanding position to demand more. Read More

Labor costs rose faster in public sector in ‘09

Employee compensation in the state and local government sector increased at twice the private-sector rate during the 12 months ending in December, according to national data released todayby the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More

Getting Triborough wrong

“Mandate relief remains elusive,” is one of the state-related headlines in today’s Albany Times Union — and that much, at least, is true. Unfortunately, the articlebeneath the headline repeats a familiar canard about the origins of the Triborough Amendment. Read More

Persuading co-workers to retire

Oneida County employees participating in a proposed cash buyout program would have a strong incentive to get their co-workers to join them: their payments will increase if more employees participate. Read More

Examining MDs

Should physicians, who are licensed by the state of New York, be required to take a civil service exam in order to work for the state of New York? A state judge thinks so, but that's unlikely to be the last word on the controversy. Read More

Teaching without contracts

As schools open, the number of school districts at impasse with teacher unions has increased by 12 percent since a year ago, according to the Public Employment Relations Board. Also noteworthy--although not emphasized by PERB--nearly one out of three school districts has yet to negotiate a new contract with its teachers. Read More

Car 54, where are you?

New York City will track the whereabouts of its 379 building inspectors with GPS technology installed, not in their city-issued vehicles, but in their cell phones. Read More