I recently sent this message to our Board of School Directors (excerpts only)
From Today’s NYT – worth reading as you ponder real estate taxing plans, merit increases and other compensation issues. The good news for your employees is that they all have a pension guaranteed by the state, so “saving for the future” is not a critical issue and you don’t need to look for creative ways to help them do it. …..{somone on the board may be able to } help predict the impact of Wyeth on this area – the article suggests ~20,000 people will lose jobs as a result of the acquisition/merger {with Pfizer. }
When GE and GE/ Space did a major layoff in the 60s, even local country clubs lost upwards of 30% of their membership – so it wasn’t just the “vulnerable” that were affected.
In the new teacher’s contract, people who DID NOT WORK FOR US when you negotiated it (i.e.they started on Step 1 this year) will get these raises over the term of the contract if they do not change educational levels.
|
Bachelors 17.7% |
Masters 18.0% |
M+15 25.4% |
M+30 29.5% |
M+45 30.0% |
M+60 34.0% |
PhD 36.8% |
…… Do you know ANYONE in industry that will get that kind of raise over 4 years? It’s not always JUST the big picture. These are the details that concern me. The cost of health care is not under anyone’s control …{and that fact} exposes local taxpayers to inordinate risks. Market driven issues cannot continue to be so important in compensation – as the market is likely to LURE people into education that would not really want to be there…. pre-tenure hires can be a waste of staff development resources….
Here is the link to today’s NYT article:
BUSINESS / ECONOMY | January 27, 2009
Layoffs Spread to More Sectors of the Economy
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Companies across the board are resorting to mass job cuts, suggesting that employers expect a long downturn.
END OF EMAIL
I encourage readers to click on the link and read the article — though similar information was trumpted on the front page of USA Today and I’m sure countless other media outlets.
The sky may or may not be falling — but taxing authorities will never run out of money (and we just might). The Federal government is considering spending trillions to stimulate the economy — a fairly loud signal that the economy is weak. Locally, we need to be sure we don’t budget for what we WANT, but for what we truly NEED. I believe our Board understands that — but we need to remind them when pressures from other factions influence their decision making.
President Obama’s chief of staff is quoted as saying, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste…it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before.” He almost certainly wants increased public spending and new regulations. But he’s right on the opportunity issue. The grim economic picture provides an opportunity to push hard for opening up to public scrutiny the way teacher union contracts are negotiated. It’s too late to undo past concessions, but now is the time to re-think the rules by which salaries and benefits are ratcheted up under the threat of strikes. I’m convinced that most boards wouldn’t sign unaffordable deals if they knew that they’d have to defend them in public, in detail, and well in advance of a final vote.