March 9, 2009

PTA Council to school administrators: Cut your pay!

The most highly paid school employees should take a pay cut, the Bristol PTA Council argues, in order to help prevent layoffs or class size increases that would hurt the city’s education system.

In a letter send to the Board of Education recently, the council of parent-teacher associations in town said it doesn’t want to shortchange children.

To promote fiscal responsibility, the council proposed “that all non-union salaried Board of Education employees grossing $100,000 or over take a 5% pay cut for the upcoming fiscal year” and those earning between $75,000 and $100,000 annually take a 3 percent cut.

“This proposal would only affect base salaries and not fringe benefits or retirement contributions,” the council said in its letter to school board members.

 The council estimated the savings for the fiscal year starting July 1 at more than $215,000 if school officials were to go along with the request.

The school board endorsed what it calls a “go forward” budget last week that seeks almost 4 percent more money than education received this year. The $104 million plan would essentially maintain the existing staff and programs.

The PTA group said that “in these tough economic times families are having to tighten their budgets. Workers are taking furloughs, cutting their hours, or giving back vacation time.  Services are being cut to those in need and cities are having to take hard looks at their bottom lines and cut away any excess.”

“The one area that can not afford to be cut is the education of our children,” it said.

“When these economic times change we don’t want to look back and find that our children were denied the opportunities to learn and advance at the same rate as their peers just one town over,” the letter to school leaders said.

“We need to position our children at the forefront of our agenda to ensure that when the time comes they are prepared to be a nation of leaders and workers who will continue to support the economy’s growth and recovery.

It said the proposal to cut highly paid salaries “may only preserve the jobs of a few teachers and staff, but every job saved counts and shows that the board is willing to take the necessary measures to preserve the quality of the education our students receive,” the council said.

“If we are asking our teachers and staff to work with fewer resources and we know that families are pinching pennies to make ends meet then we need to show that our top paid BOE employees are willing to follow suit,” it said.

Here's the full text of the letter:

March 3, 2009

Dear Commissioners of the Bristol Board of Education:

In these tough economic times families are having to tighten their budgets. Workers are taking furloughs, cutting their hours, or giving back vacation time.  Services are being cut to those in need and cities are having to take hard looks at their bottom lines and cut away any excess.  The one area that can not afford to be cut is the education of our children.  When these economic times change we don’t want to look back and find that our children were denied the opportunities to learn and advance at the same rate as their peers just one town over.  We need to position our children at the forefront of our agenda to ensure that when the time comes they are prepared to be a nation of leaders and workers who will continue to support the economy’s growth and recovery.

 In order to promote being fiscally responsible the Bristol PTA Council would like to propose to the Board of Education and the Finance Committee that all non-union salaried Board of Education employees grossing $100,000 or over take a 5% pay cut for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009.  We would further propose that all non-union salaried employees who gross $75,000 or more take a 3% pay cut for the upcoming fiscal year.   This proposal would only affect base salaries and not fringe benefits or retirement contributions.

 This may only preserve the jobs of a few teachers and staff but every job saved counts and shows that the board is willing to take the necessary measures to preserve the quality of the education our students receive.  If we are asking our teachers and staff to work with fewer resources and we know that families are pinching pennies to make ends meet then we need to show that our top paid BOE employees are willing to follow suit.

 The savings for the upcoming fiscal year is conservatively averaged at over $215,000, which may not be the final solution to our budget crisis but a significant beginning.  One that shows in tough economic times a slight decrease in pay that allows for the preservation of jobs is the responsible choice.  We are confident the board will continue to make cuts that will not directly impact the quality of education; such as freezing non-essential travel for professional development and instead look internally at the strengths of the educators employed by the city to help provide those opportunities for teachers and staff. The board should also take a look at the use their resources and whether the staff at Central office all hold positions vital for the basic operation of the BOE. The staff size of the Central office has nearly doubled over the past 5 years. 

Increasing class size is not an acceptable solution and needs to be avoided at all costs.  The Bristol Council PTA appreciates the consideration of our proposal and looks forward to creating an alliance that will strengthen our vested interest in ensuring an equal and quality education for all of Bristol’s students.

 Respectfully Submitted,

Bristol PTA Council

*******

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't advocate anyone taking a pay cut. Forfeit wage increases, yes... but I sure as hell wouldn't want someone telling ME I should work for less, so I can NOT ask that of someone else in good conscience. If you're not giving away part of your salary willingly, then you can't make such a request either. Everyone wants to see their neighbors get bled dry but no one wants so much as a scratch on their own hide. I can't stand that level of selfishness.

Anonymous said...

Who is on this "Bristol PTA Council"? Like the BOE is going to listen to them?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, right.

Anonymous said...

Forfeit or force a layoff - pretty simple - don't you think?

Anonymous said...

The Bristol PTA Council is made up delegates and members from the towns PTA's as well as representatives from the Board of Education and school administrators. We are advocates on the behalf of our children. Our mission is to preserve the quality of the education our children receive. If this means to keep class size down and preseve teachers positions that we ask a minority of highly paid BOE employees to take a paycut to accomplish this goal then I don't consider this selfish, on the reverse if someone is not willing to take a 5% or 3% pay cut to save another employees job then I'd consider that selfish. The Board of Education listens to the tax payers who elect them each year. They listen to the members of the community who take the time to speak out on behalf of the thousands of children who can't. We on work on the same side as the teachers who work directly with our children on a daily basis. "Every Child One Voice"

We are hopeful that the "Go Forward" budget will stay intact and that no one will have to endure a cut or lose their job but if these tough economic times continue, and that is not possible, due to several factors, then we do need to take a hard look at how much our top paid officials are making and how we bridge the gap between our budget shortage and teacher positions. We wish to be optimistic but believe you also have to be realistic.

If you have not had the opportunity to learn about the role of the Council PTA in our city then we invite you to a meeting. We can gurantee that you will hear more about our initiatives in the future.

Anonymous said...

I happen to know for a fact that one of the collaborators on the letter to the board has taken a paycut inorder to help save fellow employees from losing their positions. I know they believe in being able to walk the walk if they are going to talk the talk. I would not consider them selfish. There are several towns whose BOE employees do not make nearly as much. There are over 20 employees who make over 100,000 per year. You a top heavy management team at the BOE invest some of that money back into the teachers salaries. We may have a diverse population of students that require intensive services but really instead of a person making over 100,000 a year to over see curriculums can't the principles manage that? They too make well over 120,000 per year. Do we really need a Superintendant and a Deputy Superintendant and a finance Superintendant and a Secretary and an Executive Secretary?? Come on people lets be creative, surely this is not the structure as it has always been. Do you think that even richer towns have that many top management officials on their BOE payroll?...I dare you educate yourselves...look into it....you'd be amazed how many things are accomplished with far less people and there is not an issue with quality education. So fine don't have them cut their pay to save front line employees (teachers) lets just have less of them.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I think I saw Streifer downtown again today. He was in front of the bank and laughing. Get it? LOL. The PTA has a great idea, but it will never happen. These BOE Admin employees are just laughing when they read your letter. If they take a pay cut, I'll post naked photos of myself on this website. Although I wouldn't want Steve to get too excited....not to mention I am a male :)

Anonymous said...

Invite us to a meeting? Are we suppose to guess when/where they are?

Anonymous said...

A 3% cut in pay for a 50K job is $1500.

Much more than a $100 tax increase (deductable)

Anonymous said...

"The Confederacy of Greed" is not going to let go of our money.

Anonymous said...

3% of 1500 is $500.00 but if you read their letter they are only asking for 3% back if someone makes over $75000 thats $2,250. On $192,000 at 5% that's over $9,000. Or the cost of one bristol students education for the entire school year...and then some. Pratt and Whitney employees are taking a furlough for 5 days this year to save jobs this equates to about a 3% paycut for some of them....WAKE UP these are the economic times we are living in...NEVER mind a 1.4 % increase in salaries....people should consider themselves lucky if they are not on hold with the unemployment office for 6 hours!!.

Anonymous said...

You need to be a PTA member of one of the city's schools to be a concil PTA member, though you may always attend as a guest. Notification of the meetings is sent to the schools. Typically they are the 2nd Monday of the month. They are held on a rotating basis at the schools who are members of the council. The Superintendant's office would know when they are they are always invited and hold a guest spot on the board.

Anonymous said...

Dear PTA member at 5:22 PM

You are right about the money. The upper management too numerous, overpaid, and drains the system of it's limited resources.

Thank heavens the PTA is speaking up regarding the excesses and are pointing out that other towns are more conservative in their renumeration of upper management.

How many NEW assistant principle positions were created within the few years?
Six?

Only three choices in hard economic times: cut management, cut teachers ,or raise taxes.

Why does the Board of Finance keep facilitating the excesses of the Board of Education regarding the excesses in its bureacracy?

Anonymous said...

So why should one person contribute $1000, 0r $2000 towards the problem and most others contribute very little or nothing?

Yes, we are our brothers keeper, but that means all of us.

We pay some people more because of supply and demand, just as we pay more fo a Mercedes, or a cottage on the water.

That is the American way

Anonymous said...

To anonymoust at 12:32...I understand supply and demand and in these economic times there is little demand for a top heavy BOE management team that holds over 20 positions grossing more than $100,000 and I am sure there is enough supply of out of work educators who would fill the position for far less, without risking quality. In these times people are willing to work harder for less. Unfortunately part of the problem is that we Americans are spending money we don't have on Mercedes and Lake Front properties when we should be budgeting for Chevy's and a day at Lake Compounce! The American Way needs to change.

Anonymous said...

3:28

Check the Sunday papers and see just how many ads there are for administrators, Principles, Vice Principls etc.
A surprisingly large number, especially during the off season.

Anonymous said...

Obama wants to give merit raises:
Administrators?
With or without testing?

Anonymous said...

This PTA group: do they ever go to Board of Ed meetings and speak out?

Anonymous said...

Yes as a matter of fact they do. They also write letters to senators and congressmen. They also sit in on other committee meetings such as the Health and Wellness Committee and has been instrumental in making sure that kids have the chance to be healthy and active at school, which means finding other appropriate ways to discipline children and not take their one 20 min recess away. This is a newly formed PTA Council, established this past August. You will surely hear more and more from them in the future.

Anonymous said...

Very very few, if any, show up at BOE meetings.

At some meetings there is nobody there that isn't part of staff, except an occaisional straggler.

There should be 10-15 there at every meeting!

Anonymous said...

I applaud the PTA on their request. The reason is simple - when the whole country is in a financial hardship, you've got these administrators proposing themselves a 9 - 30% increase. Both the BOE members and the city council agreed to pass this - shame on them.
If they are so educated, why didn't they see this financial disaster coming? To simply say they are going to lay off teachers and the support group while fatting their wallets is selfish. These are educated people that should have strategized to prevent anyone from losing their job - the children that are being taught are the future of this country - they deserve the best educational experience possible! The simple fact that the PTA has the guts to request a cut in pay is great.

Anonymous said...

March 13

Why didn't the CITY OFFICIALS see the financial problems coming?

Thet were warned, they are the ones that are the ones that monitor the overall budget.

The educators educate, and only when the state notifies them of changes would they be aware of impacts on their budget.

The city, Mayor et al should keep track of tax collection, and other revenues that they use to develop the budget!

Look to the real source of the issue!!!