Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

Bridgeport School Board President Barbara Bellinger waited until it was time to vote on a $215.8 million school budget -- representing $19 million in program and job cuts -- to level the blame where she saw it.

The district's teachers union may not have caused a recession or a decision to flat-fund the district for the third straight year, but in her eyes it could have softened the blow by agreeing to concessions. It could have been the hero. "All we kept getting was `no, no, no'" she said last week at a board meeting.

Bridgeport Education Association President Gary Peluchette, in the back of the room, could barely contain himself. Teachers, he said, are heros in the classroom every day. "I don't feel by teachers giving up what was entered into, in good faith, will in any way help the situation," said Peluchette.

That stalemate was played out in school districts across the state this budget season. While workers in many fields faced pay cuts and unpaid furloughs during the recession and school districts were forced to choose between tax increases and program cuts, teachers unions stoutly resisted reopening contracts for concessions.

There were some exceptions.

Guilford teachers last year agreed to cut their scheduled 4 percent wage increase in half. Teachers in Avon this year did the same thing. In Shelton, the teachers union agreed to help out the district by "loaning" it a day and a half pay and getting the "loan" back when they retire or leave. A smattering of other districts have entered into early retirement arrangements.

Otherwise, most locals seemed content to wait until their new contracts come due and let the chips fall where they may.

John Yrchik, executive director of the Connecticut Education Association, said the union leadership discouraged reopening contracts to grant concessions because such a move would be precedent-setting and would defeat the purpose of collective bargaining, where a host of issues and factors come into play.

In Connecticut, all 166 school districts are bound by the collective bargaining agreements they agree to with unions.

No one has attempted to emulate New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who recently announced he would rescind previously planned raises for teachers in an effort to stave off up to 4,400 teacher layoffs.

NO COUNTER OFFERS

In Bridgeport, with one year to go on the district's contract, teacher salaries are to go up an average of 3.9 percent in the new fiscal year. In Trumbull, teacher salaries rise an average 5.15 percent. In Milford, the average teacher salary increase is 4.9 percent in the new fiscal year. In Monroe, it's 5.6 percent.

The 2009-10 average salary for Connecticut teachers, according to the NEA is $64,350. Data from the previous year ranked Connecticut teachers as the fourth-highest paid in the country, not surprising in that the state has among the highest per-capita incomes of any state in the country.

The state teacher salary average varies greatly by town and seniority. Next year in Bridgeport, a teacher with a master's degree and on the fifth level of a 13-step seniority chart will make $48,160. That same teacher, in Fairfield, would make $56,104. In Bridgeport, the pay scale goes up to $83,730 after 13 years for those with an advanced degree. In Fairfield, the scale extends to 25 years and $103,303 for those with a doctorate.

In Monroe, where the scale ranges from $46,033 to $95,819, Monroe Schools Superintendent Colleen Palmer said the Monroe Education Association was asked to forfeit three days of wages to help support the district's medical account. They were invited to present any other ideas regarding concessions. "The union denied the request and did not counter offer," Palmer said.

In Trumbull, teachers were asked for concessions on at least two occasions, said Celeste Jardim, human resources specialist for the district. "They refused since they are going into negotiations for a successor contract this month and that is where it will be addressed."

ZERO PAY INCREASES

So far this spring, out of 69 school districts where new contracts were settled, 44 took zero increases, according to the Connecticut Education Association. That includes both CEA locals and those of the American Federation of Teachers.

Locally, teacher salaries in Derby, Fairfield, Oxford, Ansonia, Seymour and Stratford, will be, like many workers in a variety of industries, the same next year as they are this year. All those districts start new contracts in July 2010.

"No union is happy when its members get a zero percent salary increase. At the same time, given the economic circumstances we find ourselves in, a number of local associations concluded this was an appropriate decision," said Yrchik.

Yrchik points out that along with zero increases, many teachers -- like almost everyone else -- are shouldering a larger percentage of health care costs.

Yrchik said everyone getting raises this year knows as they look around the state that next year will be a very difficult year to negotiate.

Still, teacher raises, factored into flat-funded budgets this year, have meant something else has to give. In many districts, schools are closing, class sizes are growing and teachers are getting pink slips.

According to Peluchette, Bridgeport teachers have endured wage freezes at least three times during his 25 years with the school system. He remains unconvinced the board is spending its budget in the best way. He pointed to an in-house attorney the district will hire, its reliance on the National Urban Alliance to provide teacher training and "mismanagement" that led millions to be given back to the city last year.

Beyond that, Peluchette argued the city hasn't stepped up to the plate. "I am a city resident and I can say the city hasn't done what they should to support education," he said.

Schools Superintendent John Ramos sees something else in the local's stance.

"The position the union has taken is the position it has taken at the state and national level. Our circumstances couldn't trump what the union's general platform is," said Ramos.

A `CALLOUS' DECISION?

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, whose city budget counts on union concessions not yet made, characterized the teachers union stance as "callous." "They had it within their power, by making small sacrifices across their memberships, to avoid terrible cuts to our children's education, or layoffs of their fellow members. Other unions have, and will continue to sacrifice during these difficult economic times," Finch said.

Bellinger said other unions whose members make much less than teachers were willing to help, but not to go it alone.

Months of talks with teachers in Bridgeport led to one idea. Teachers offered an early retirement proposal that they maintain would have eliminated as many as 33 teachers at the top of the salary scale and saved the district more than $600,000. School officials maintain the savings, over time, would have amounted to a $30,000 and just wasn't worth it.

Chris Caruso, a spokesman for the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, said nobody wants to give up part of a salary and it's in a district's best interest to pay its teachers well so good teachers will want to work there. But, he added, teachers who are insensitive to the fact that the nation is pulling out of a deep recession might win the battle but lose the war.

"This situation was handed to (school boards) by others who didn't meet their obligations," he said.

In Bridgeport, Ramos said it stands to reason teacher concessions would have saved jobs. Peluchette said there was never a pledge that a concession would prevent teacher layoffs.

Shelton Education Association President Deborah Keller said when her union agreed to the loan last December, the district promised to lay no teachers off in the school year that just ended and did not require the union to give up anything for which it bargained in good faith.

"We've got one more year on the contract. That's the contract we live with. Perhaps we will get a zero (in the new contract). If that's what it is, that's what it is. We will accept that," she said.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Across-the-region-teachers-avoid-pay-concessions-539280.php