A Fair Contract Indeed!

I couldn’t believe my eyes! Teachers took 2%, 3.5%, and 2.9% raises over the next three years. But realizing that $10 per month toward a premium doesn’t cut it with today’s rising insurance costs, the insurance contribution is now $40, $80, and $100 over the next three years. Still much less than most of us pay, but a positive step in the right direction. The taxpayers will be thrilled! Now maybe the voters will go for that bond issue for new buildings when the tobacco settlement money comes through.

Kudo’s to Rootstowns’ school board and teachers for agreeing to a truly fair and equitable contract. Knowing that this August 85% of school levies failed across Ohio, they did the right thing by trying to cut the cost to the taxpayer. We cannot continue to pay for unsustainable perks and fringe benefits. This contract is something that I think is precedent setting in the state of Ohio.

The contract for Cuyahoga Falls was the best we could get and avoid a strike. While we will receive insurance premium payments in years two and three of our new contract the $120,000 in payments over the next three years doesn’t even begin to offset the added $1.4 million in liability due to an increase in the maximum claim on dental from $1500 to $2500. I personally would have liked to see a percentage put on insurance payments, so if the district sees another large increase like a few years back, everyone will absorb the cost. But although the raises are based on percentages, insurance will remain fixed and extremely low. No step increases in the insurance department either. And rather than an attendance bonus, I would have liked to seen a “didn’t use the insurance bonus” Oh wait- we have that too. The buyout program. But not many people use this option because our district is one of the last men standing that still offers FREE insurance. I’m sure at $10 per month we will still have very few buyouts, as you will not find cheaper insurance anywhere. In fact it has been my experience that the people that take the buyout have a spouse in the education field with the same lucrative benefits. In fact one teacher told me that he left the private sector making a higher salary because nowhere in the private sector could you get benefits totaling 50% of your salary AND summers off. I voted yes on this contract because I was promised that no new general fund levies would be needed for the next two years. The CEO would only promise two years because that’s the cycle of the state budget.

I want to give you an example of what an average teacher in Cuyahoga Falls makes. Please don’t get mad at me as I am just reporting the facts as I see them. I am using a teacher with 10 years experience, a BA+150 hrs. with a base salary of $50,758.

Base Salary $50,758
Medicare $736
Workers Comp $700
Retirement $7,106
Medical $10,676
Prescription $3,918
Dental $1,091
Life $110
Total actual cost of one Cuyahoga Falls average teacher $75,095

This is the amount paid by the taxpayer via the board for one year. This amount does not include the following perks:

First of all what is tenure worth? It most definitely is worth something. After all most of us aren’t guaranteed a job just because we kept our job. So this item does have a value. I’ll leave it to those smarter than me to come up with a dollar amount for this one. So what is the guarantee of knowing you’ll have a job with guaranteed percentage raises including step increases for not leaving your guaranteed job worth? My personal opinion is, knowing you have a job until you retire is almost priceless, worth at least $250,000 over a 30 year continuing contract.

Next up- summers off. This is also worth something. This dollar amount is a little easier to come up with. 15 weeks vacation. Yes, I’m counting Christmas and spring breaks. And I don’t want to hear about the things that need to be done on these breaks because we all have to do things and we don’t get that much time off to do it. Most of us with full time jobs and two weeks of vacation and the 10 common holidays off, work an average of 1,928 hours per year. A full time teacher works 1,314 hours per year. That’s a difference of 614 hours. Using our average teacher salary that means summers off are worth a whopping $23,712.68. WOW! Even more than I had suspected. But this is slightly unfair as it uses an hourly wage as its basis. So I’ll try to be fair and use the logic that ¼ of the year is a vacation (actually 15 weeks, I gave 3 weeks as 12 month worker time off) therefore ¼ of the total board paid amount is what summers are worth. That totals $18,773.

The attendance bonus is worth between $275 and $500. I would have liked to see this item taken out of the contract but it was not to be. Take heart in the fact that now a teacher can only miss three days now to qualify for it rather than the previous contracts eight days. Geez I need a bonus for going to work like I was hired to do. In my opinion this perk encourages people to come to work sick and spread it to our kids and other faculty and send it home to me. For a lousy five hundred bucks.

Let’s get a grand total so I can rest my weary wrists.
$75,095 Taxpayer funded salary and fringe amount.
$??? Tenure = continuing contract = job guarantee
$18,773 Value of summers off
$0 This average teacher missed too many days :o(

$93,868 Total teacher compensation…so far...

Add to this total, your tenure value, plus the value of accumulated sick leave buyouts, early retirement notification bonuses, and the many stipends and extra duty contracts offered.

My total, dividing all other perks with 30 years, is an average $104,000 per year on our current average teachers salary and fringes.

Permission to Blog Freely, Sir?

I don’t usually rehash things but a comment was made on my last blog stating that “it’s a crying shame you’re allowed to have this blog”. Strange considering it came from someone who blogs, none the less the comment was made. So tonight I went to his blog and checked it out. Seems a lot is going on regarding his comment and subsequent comments. I would like to clarify a few comments made about me. First on censorship. There has only been one comment I have ever censored/deleted from my blog and it was the “God hates fags” web link. I refuse to allow something that hateful and wrong to be posted here. Other than that, this blog has had free reign.

Next on my reasons for this blog. People have made a lot of assumptions about me without bothering to click on the Email link and ask me themselves. My reasons for this blog were talked about in the beginning and I am not going to post a refresher course for newbies. Suffice it to say I am secure in my reasoning for this blog. I guess I am to assume that being professional means I should not have an opinion, and if I do have an opinion I should not voice it. I had opinions when I ran for this office. I voiced them during my campaign and I was elected by a majority of votes. So I can only assume that a lot of people liked what I had to say. I wish all board members, city council members, state and federal reps would blog. It would make deciding whom to vote for a heck of a lot easier. Instead of little post card sound bites at election time, you might actually get to know your representatives if they blogged.

What a novel idea! Let people know how you think so they can make an informed decision. Keep people up to date on what their elected officials are going to be voting on. Let people know what is being discussed at meetings. Since another blogger mentioned the gas wells at Bolich and Newberry, I’ll use that as my example. I never claimed I could or did single handedly prevent the gas wells from going in. I have told people from day one that I can't change anthing alone. It is hearing the voice of many, from the public- that's you voters and taxpayers- that can change the minds of administrators and board members. But- I do credit this blog for informing people and getting them involved before a vote was taken. I can assure you that most in the administration and board was in favor of the gas wells before the public forum was held. But thanks to an informed public making an excellent presentation of how much they loved their neighborhood and felt the small dividends were not worth the dangers and looks of ugly wells, the project was dropped. Back in 20 B.B. (Before Blogs) these types of actions were reported on after the fact. Usually as a shocking headline that would have went something like this:

GAS WELLS TO BE INSTALLED NEXT TO SCHOOLS
Neighbors outraged that $1000 per month was worth more than the safety of their children and neighborhood.

The position I hold on the school board did not suddenly put me above others, nor change my views on the changes that need made in education. They are views that I had and expressed before, during and after being elected. I am “allowed to have this blog” because I live in the greatest country in the world. Your biggest fear should be to ever have to live in a society that doesn’t allow these types of liberty’s and freedoms. John J. Chapman said it best: “Attack another’s rights and you destroy your own”. In the communistic view suggested, if I weren’t “allowed to have this blog”, 50% of you wouldn’t be allowed to vote, another 12% of you wouldn’t be allowed to own property or vote, and most of us would be in prison for searching and receiving information over the internet. You don’t have to like this blog, but you do have to like the fact that we’re all allowed to have opinions and voice them if we so choose. I am grateful to those before me who understood how important our freedoms are and were willing to give their life so that we may enjoy them today. It’s that attitude that allows me to have this blog.

Equitable [ek-wi-tuh-buhl] –adjective 1. Just and right; fair; reasonable: equitable treatment of all citizens.

Alert!!

Thursday August 9ths special board meeting is NOT to vote on a negotiated contract. Sorry to burst your bubbles but it will be a quick, boring meeting.

“It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself” Eleanor Roosevelt

I guess it’s time for a new blog. First of all I have been asked several times about the status of the CEO’s evaluation. The Ohio Historical Society has deemed that it cannot be destroyed and it has been made a part of the public record. I am about to explode from keeping mum on negotiations. So I guess I’m just gonna let loose and tip toe around what’s actually going on and just point out a few facts on life. Many statements were read at the board meetings by teachers stating that they wanted what was “fair and equitable” and that’s fine with me. The Beacon Journal did a great article this weekend. Be sure to check it out. Anyway you decide what is fair and equitable.

The average household income in CF is $42,263 annually. Keep in mind that household part!

The average employee in CF works a 12 month year with an average of 2-5 weeks vacation. Sick days and personal days were “use it or lose it”. Some hospital employees could carry over 5 days from year to year.

An average insurance benefit was impossible as it varied so widely. It went anywhere from 10% for government workers to 30-60% for corporate workers to 100% for self employed and small business employees. I also talked to four people that had no insurance because the premium was 100% employee contribution and they couldn’t afford it and buy food, clothing and shelter.

The average doctors visit co-pay is $25.00.

Everyone I talked to that held a professional license paid for their own license renewal and continuing education if required, sans some hospital employees that had c/e paid for. Many people buy supplies they prefer to use rather than use what is provided by their employers.

One person receives an attendance bonus and he works for the government. Big surprise there! Many receive performance bonuses and some receive Christmas bonuses.


No one I talked to had a guaranteed job. All cited job performance, attendance, meeting goals set by the employer, efficient department operations, and customer satisfaction among the reasons for continued employment. No one kept his or her job because of longevity.

When asked if they wanted to pass a new levy every two years in addition to ALL renewal levies and continue to run our district status quo the answer was a resounding NO.

Now, let me share some more facts that may startle you so make sure you are sitting down.

The average teacher salary in CF is $48,000. An average teacher in CF receives $25,000 worth of benefits annually on top of wages. In addition to that many draw extra wages from the taxpayer in the form of stipends and extra duty contracts. That comprises coaching, club leadership, various continuous improvement committees, heck we even pay someone at each building to haul the DVD players from storage to classrooms and back.

One last thing I want to say. Remember the year 2005? Let me give you a refresher course. The district found itself about five million dollars in the hole. We let go of 90 teachers and a couple administrators. We closed two school buildings, and passed a levy that put a strain on many people struggling to get by. Wages and benefits are 85% of our, and most school districts budgets. I can tell you this- the five million dollar deficit didn’t happen solely because of the other 15% of the districts budget.