Hillsborough County Schools and unions representing teachers and blue collar workers came to an agreements on salary increases.
Teachers will get an 8% raise and, support staff will also get a 6% pay raise , while administrators will receive a 5.5 % raise.
With budget shortfalls in districts throughout the state we are thrilled to be able to offer thus far, the largest salary increases in the state.
Read about it in the Tampa Tribune article or the St. Pete Times Article.
Thoughts?
18 comments:
"For current teachers, the 8 percent raise will require some additional work. The vast majority of Hillsborough's nearly 15,000 teachers are moving to an eight-hour workday, 20 minutes more than today's schedule. The extra time accounts for about half of the 8 percent raise."
I must be from another planet, but reading the paragraph above from the St. Petersburg Times, am I the only one who sees something amiss calling this an 8% raise. I don't know, maybe I'm a dunce and am too stupid to see it the way others do.
I agree with Goader. If I am reading this right, the actual raise that everyone gets is 2%. Another 2% will be given only to those who are eligible for a level change. The other 4% is NOT, I repeat, NOT a raise. Our workday has been lengthened and therefore we are being paid for that additional time. I don't care how you slice it, that is NOT a raise. I find it insulting that the district and the union have the nerve to call it a raise. In addition, the 37,000 starting salary has further closed the gap which should exist between starting teachers and experienced ones. This will be my sixth year in the district and a starting teacher's salary is within about $1000 of mine. So what benefit are the levels? There are teachers with more than 20 years of experience whose salaries are not that much higher than that of a starting teacher. Doesn't the district ever really examine this disparity? I thought retention was a goal of the district. Until the levels are adjusted to reflect the changes in starting salaries, the district will continue to see teachers leaving the field for better paying jobs. It isn't all about money of course, but we all have bills to pay, families to raise, etc. So while teaching is a calling, we didn't agree to do it for free.
April,
Here is my concern. We have been told over and over again that we HAVE to teach an extra period because the district is facing budget cuts and can't afford to hire additional teachers. By having us work an extra period the distric till be saving $23 million dollars. Now we are speading $78 million to provide a raise. So isn't this putting our district even more in the hole? Where are we tightening the belt to get this extra money and why isn't this extra money going to hiring new teachers like the current teachers have been asking for instead of overloading their current schedules! I'm just a little perplexed because its just seems like the district is throwing money at a problem instead of fixing the actual problem !!
Because this is a contract negotiation and these proposals have not been ratified by the unions I can not comment.
I am however forwarding these comments to the appropriate staff for a response and will post them when I get them back.
Stay tuned, April
I analyzed the so-called raise in a raving rant on another blog (United for Quality Education). I invite your readers to partake in a maddening monologue, which addressed a bargaining system gone mad.
All kidding aside, someone from either or both sides of that bargaining series needs to address the teachers of HCPS. If those involved really believe this to be a raise then an explanation is called for, because as it stands now it insults the intelligence of well-educated educators.
Yvonne and Jean, you know I respect both of you and hold you both in high regard. I also respect Mrs. Elia, though I disagree with some of her decisions. Please, will someone help those of us affected understand the rationale behind calling the convoluted series of increases in pay for increases in work a raise for teachers? Other than the level increase, which was there all along, the only real raise I can discern is a 2% across the board increase.
We try to teach our students to think critically and make informed decision based on facts distilled from the rhetoric. How would a teacher present the details of this raise if a class discussed it rhetorically to illustrate the collective bargaining process? Would not the class analyze the details and recognize the distortions propagated by its proponents. Would not the teacher in good faith acknowledge the obvious distortions? Would not the class come to some agreement that the proponents were selling the so-called "8% raise" by using pie in the sky logic?
I called payroll today, to find out what step/level I was on after 6 full years of teaching. I was told steps/levels do not corralate with years of service. So, I asked what do they corralate with or how is it determined when a step/level is raised or changed ? Is it in writing online so I can fully understand ? Ummmm let me get back to you was the reply and you may never not necessarly change or raise steps/levels reguardless of years of sevice. John Morgan of Morgan&Morgan is a friend of my father's and is very interested in how the district determines steps/levels increases and raises.etc. He is a "for employee" type litigator. Please check into this matter or Mr. Morgan will.
4.3% requires additional work. This is just getting our daily rate and NOT a raise. This is a VERY old trick that SDHC uses to make the public feel good about the teachers pay and it total disinformation. If you want better schools you need to give the teachers a decent wage and stop this smoke and mirrors routine that you all do.
I am on the top level/step. I get a $1000.00 BONUS, not a raise, not a salary increase but a BONUS.
The thing is: my $1000 DOES NOT COUNT towards my retirement!!!! It is like I never earned it in the FRS eyes!
Hey, thanks a bunch. The district saved how much money with this little trick?
This really shows how much my experience and loyalty is appreciated. PLUS I will be "reminded" every time my retirement check comes.
Please, will someone help those of us affected understand the rationale behind calling the convoluted series of increases in pay for increases in work a raise for teachers? Other than the level increase, which was there all along, the only real raise I can discern is a 2% across the board increase.
Do all teachers know that pay levels do not directly correspond with years of experience?
For example, a teacher in his or her fourth year of teaching is at level three etc, therefore some teachers will not receive a level increase this year.
How many teachers have checked to see at which pay level he or she is currently classified?
Where is the document that spells out how the levels correspond to years of experience?
Yes, the actual "raise" for teachers is not much of a raise. 4.3% is for Time Worked as the teaching day increases to 8 hours.A level bump is not a "raise" either. So, all in all, administrators are getting a 5.5% increase, more than teachers.This district has some great PR network, doesn't it? Also,I agree: does no one look at the salary schedules? A teacher of 10 or more years of teaching with a bachelor's degree, disguised in levels 6 or 7 (2006-2007), does not even make what a school board member does--after they gave themselves a raise this year. And that same teacher only makes about $3,000 more than a first year teacher. There is definitely something fundamentally wrong with this. What about teaching the 6 of 7 classes and the 300 minute issue--oh, yeah, they taken that to committee. And if teachers fail to vote either yes, or no on the contract, the non-vote counts as a yes! All this makes it hard to have faith in anyone any more--the district's leaders, the union or the news media, who by the way seem awfully reluctant to dig and report fully. If I remember correctly the Tribune called teachers a bunch of whiners when some expressed disagreement and disbelief at Mrs. Elia's from-the- top-down decisions. It took one courageous board member--April Griffin-to rescind the 2 minute- only speaking time so that teachers could finish their thoughts and sentences before the board. One last thought--perhaps the district could save money by NOT bringing in people like Dr. Daggett or purchsing his very expensive programs--remember the ridiculous money-wasting pep rally last year? The district doesn't listen to some of his best ideas anyway. He says one of the best ways to improve teaching and student performance is to give teachers MORE planning time not less. Buckle your seat belts, it's going to be a long bumpy ride this school year!
I just posted this in the comments section on Gradebook.
I am willing to adjust my opinion of the teacher pay raise in the following way. First, let's take out of the equation the number of hours worked. Everyone works many hours per week public or private; there is not much sympathy for mentioning it in the debate. Additionally, there is not much sympathy for the number of months per year a teacher works. Therefore, we will subtract that from the equation and say everyone works one year regardless of how many months. With those conditions in place, let's analyze the increased money.
1. There is an approximate 4.3% increase across the board—all teachers receive it. (Accounts for the additional 20 minute per workday)
2. If, and only if, a teacher is up for a level change he or she will receive an additional 2% increase. The problem here is we do not know if we are eligible for a level increase or not. Where is the level structure document? (PERHAPS A REPORT WILL ASK FOR THIS DOCUMENT AND PUBLISH IT SO TEACHERS KNOW IF THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO GO UP A LEVEL.) (Levels do not correspond one-to-one with years of service.)
3. There is something about 199 days versus 201 days. What does that mean? The pat answer is we will not be docked for those two days. Does that mean another across the board increase to cover the two days? If so, what percent does that work out to be and is it different for each level? In other words, how is the pay for those two days going to be accounted for in the raise? (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL INQUIRE ABOUT THIS AND PUBLISH THE ANSWER.)
4. There is some mumbo-jumbo about adjusting mid-levels to correct some past mistake. I am assuming this is not part of the across the board raise since only some will benefit. (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL INQUIRE ABOUT THIS AND PUBLISH THE ANSWER SO TEACHERS WILL KNOW.)
5. Finally, there is a straightforward 2% across the board increase for all teachers except the top level (27 or whatever it is). In lieu of a 2% increase, those teachers will receive a lump sum (called a bonus) sometime during the year. I do not understand why the last level is not receiving the 2% increase. (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL INVESTIGATE AND PUBLISH THE INFORMATION SO TEACHERS WILL KNOW.)
Let's do the math.
4.3% (everyone)
2.0% (only teacherS eligible to go up one level, but no one knows what that means)
?.?% (unknown factor to account for the difference between 199 and 201 days)
?.?% (unknown factor to correct past mistake some levels, no one knows which ones or how much)
2.0% (straightforward across the board, all levels increase except the top one, no one knows why)
There it is all laid out and after we fill in the question (?) marks we will be ready to get a total. Right now, we do not have enough information to reach a total or make an informed decision to vote for or against it. (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL GATHER THE MISSING INFORMATION AND PUBLISH IT SO TEACHERS CAN MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.)
The wording of the Highlights published by the union leaves me wondering just how they calculated annual salary increases that average 8%.
I tried, and couldn't figure it out.
See an example plus and explanation of what eligible means to the administration at http://teaching300.blogspot.com/
If I may borrow from Bloom, I would like to summarize our position. We have some KNOWLEDGE of the details of the raise, but not quite enough. Together we are gaining UNDERSTANDING of its implications. Through mental APPLICATION, we individually study its meaning. We now have several forms of ANALYSIS to contemplate. We are awaiting responses so we might SYNTHESIZE the information to see if works for us. Finally, we hope to be in a position to EVALUATE its substance so we might cast an informed vote.
In the meantime, as we await further information I have another inquiry. We have not discussed the administration raise much. The statement* in the St. Petersburg Times says, "Principals and other administrators will see their salary increased by 5.5 percent." That is glaringly simple language compared to the teacher raise with all its conditions and convoluted language. I'm not sure where the paper got that information.
I have two questions. Is the administration increase a straightforward 5.5% across the board raise? And, is it part of a package so that when teachers vote for or against the proposal is it included in that vote? In other words, do administrators and teachers vote for their respective raises separately? Or, is there only one vote where everyone, teachers and administrators vote for a package-type deal. That's it. Can anyone provide an answer to these two questions? Don't worry I won't hold my breath.
*http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/2007/07/hillsborough-te.htm
As I stated in an earlier post...I can not comment on negotiations so I forwarded comments from this blog to staff involved in negotiations and asked for a written response. More comments have been posted since I did that, so I don't have answers to all of the questions yet. Here is what I have thus far. Please understand these may or may not be my sentiments.
1.Approximately 1,200 teachers work and are paid for an 8-hour day. The remaining estimated 13,000 teachers are paid for 7 hours and 40 minutes, although the overwhelming majority work much more than 8 hours. To compensate those teachers who are working more than their 7-hour and 40-minute day, the district negotiated an additional 20 minutes in the spring of 2006 to be implemented for the 2007-2008 school year. This time is to be used exclusively for planning. The approximate 8 percent increase is compensation for the hours our teachers are already working. Based on last year’s base salary, the new annual increase for the 7-hour and 40-minute teachers is approximately 8 percent. In addition, 2 days were removed from the 201-day school calendar to 199 days with no reduction in salary.
2.The instructional salary schedule will be adjusted to reflect an approximate 2 percent increase to all levels. Instructional employees who are eligible, work one half year plus one day, will receive a level increase, an additional 2 percent cost of living increase. In response to the inquiry of the starting salary being within $1000 of the salary for a teacher with six year’s experience, the actual difference will be slightly more than $3000. The inquiry regarding teachers with more than 20 year’s experience whose salaries are not that much higher than that of a starting teacher, the actual difference is approximately $14,000-$15,000.
3. The district is able to put additional dollars in the salary schedule because of several initiatives.
a. Actually reduced the need for the number of new teachers and allows more money in the pot for all instructors.
b.Moved from teaching 5/7 to 6/7 periods in the secondary schools.
c.District unit by unit review started in fiscal year 2006-07. d.Class size reduction dollars can only be used for teacher salaries.
e. The use of the SILK scheduler for unit allocations in year 2007-08 has tightened the unit procedure and removed excess units which equates to dollars that cannot be used for negotiations.
4. With 6 year’s of completed experience, a teacher would be placed on Level 5. Levels do indeed correlate to years’ experience, but do not necessarily correspond to the exact number of year’s experience. The conversion chart is posted on the district’s web; however, it has temporarily been removed to be updated. In reference to whether or not an employee is entitled to move to a higher level, that is an item that deals with money and has to be negotiated annually through the collective bargaining process with each respective Union.
Do others want answers?
Correction
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Thank you !!! Thank you !!!! to
April and Goader for researching and putting forth the extra effort to get answers for our questions concerning "raise", "levels", and BONE-us eligibilty or "not" ??? It really helps us all to know that people really do listen and care. Thanks Again and Take Care
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