The full extent of the continuing rise in school spending since the recession was not inevitable or unavoidable. It was the result of (a) increasing teacher compensation costs driven largely by automatic pay raises, and (b) continued relatively high levels of staffing, relative to enrollment, especially in non-teaching titles. Read More
New labor contracts for 52 teachers’ unions and 104 school superintendents, ratified since July 1, 2013, are now available on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website, which is home to the most complete public collection of collectively-bargained school district contracts in the state. Read More
One of teaching’s most hallowed traditions may be on the way out under a new contract that is on the table in a northern Westchester County district. Read More
Now that another legislative session is in the books in Albany, pundits, lawmakers and the media can evaluate which interest groups and organizations came out ahead and who was left wanting. The only consensus regarding the outcome of this session is that the legislative results for organized labor ran the gamut, from overwhelming success for certain unions and coalitions to a bitter disappointment for others—though with several major labor initiatives passing and little legislation going through with wide-ranging consequences for labor, it’s safe to say that labor unions fared pretty well this go-around. Read More
Reportedly, the terms of a tentative agreement between the teachers' union and board of education in Westchester's Bedford Central School District would do away with step increases for newly hired teachers. Read More
There are two versions of the bill extending but tweaking the state’s binding arbitration law on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s website. The three-decade-old law, which sets the process for the settling of labor disputes between localities and their police and fire unions, was scheduled to sunset later this month. The governor was determined to see it customized to ensure that arbitration panels give greater weight to a locality’s “ability to pay” as well as to comparisons of contracts for similar communities and similar unions within the given locality. Read More
Governor Deval Patrick says he will eliminate 2,000 jobs unless public employee unions make concessions, including possible unpaid furloughs. Patrick's approach contrasts with that of New York Governor David Paterson, who also on Thursday, propose Read More
The best that can be said of New York City's just-negotiated tentative contract with its principal public-employee union, District Council 37, is that it will expire relatively soon, in June 2002. Meanwhile, the agreement sets a costly precedent at a time when the city's budget picture is dimming. Read More