The New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) has just informed school districts across the state that their teacher pension contribution rates for the 2013-14 school year will rise from the current 11.84 percent to between 15.5 and 16.5 percent of salaries — which would translate into an additional taxpayer costs totaling $539 million to $686 million, based on the latest available teacher payroll figures. Read More
Yesterday brought a march on Albany by something called the “Educate NY Now campaign,” in which the union-backed Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) figures prominently. The demonstration served to bring attention to AQE’slatest statistical hobby horse — an “opportunity gap” created by the $8,601 difference in per-pupil spending among the wealthiest and poorest schooldistricts in New York. Read More
You might think the union representing New York teachers would not favor weakening the source of its members’ future pensions. But you’d be wrong. Read More
Charter schools sharing space in New York City public school buildings cost less to operate than traditional public schools, counter to the findings of a 2010 research memo from the Independent Budget Office (IBO), according to a white paper issued today by a research group affiliated with former state comptroller candidate and financial advisor Harry Wilson. Read More
A few Albany City School District administrators are getting raises, but Empire Center Executive Director Tim Hoefer notes that these costs are just a drop in the bucket compared to what the district spends on teachers and their contract. Read More
In 2008 ... Albany schools had 31 employees making more than $100,000, according to SeeThroughNY, an online database maintained by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
The government transparency website www.SeeThroughNY.net added the latest available collective bargaining agreements of 81 public school teachers’ unions, the Empire Center, which runs the website, announced Tuesday. Read More
As noted by the Empire Center for Public Policy, the median salary for teachers in Western New York was $62,697, compared with $72,990 statewide. Read More