School Board Makes Consequences Clear
This is a good move by the school board.
Teachers in the West Bend School District received a letter Friday afternoon from School Board members explaining the effect salary negotiations could have on the upcoming budget.
The two-page letter, signed by each member of the school board, states that the “current collective bargaining process is going to directly impact the amount that has to be reduced for next year’s budget.”
According to the letter, costs associated with the current proposal from the West Bend Education Association would result in what equates to the loss of five more teaching positions in the 2010-11 school year, and eight to 10 positions in the 2011-12 school year. Those cuts would be in addition to reductions the district is already anticipating.
School board vice-president Kathy Van Eerden said the letter was designed to connect directly with staff to talk about the budget as discussed earlier this week at a School Board work session. School board president Joe Carlson was unable to be reached in time for publication.
“We wanted to share our concerns directly with staff members so it was clear to them the impact the reductions could potentially have,” she said.
School board members also wanted staff to be fully informed about the potential implication of the association’s proposal on the budget, Van Eerden said.
The real question will be whether or not the board is willing to back up its assertion. If the union gets an increase, will they actually fire more teachers? I am hopeful. I don’t want to see anyone else lose their jobs, but if they take an unreasonable negotiating position then they deserve it. The teachers need to know the real world consequences of wage increases in a world of scarce resources.
Also… it seems to me that someone recommended an action just like this a while back…
I would love to see the district come out in public and tell the teachers that if they insist on large compensation increases, then some of them will be fired. Period.
Kudos to the West Bend School Board.
The real question will be whether or not the board is willing to back up its assertion.
There is no choice here. The District cannot deficit spend. Cutting staff is the only way. The Board and administration have made that pretty clear for quite some time now.
if they take an unreasonable negotiating position then they deserve it.
Unfortunately there is a disconnect between the rank and file and their union representation. Sadly, with seniority rules, the youngest with the lowest compensation will be the first to go.
I am certain the Board will hold fast. While she may seem like a real nice person, I can tell you from personal experience that when it come to negotiations or staff malfeasance, Van Eerden is a hard ass. She would, however, wince at my choice of words.Posted by Charlie Hillman on February 27, 2010 at 1325 hrs
Sadly, with seniority rules, the youngest with the lowest compensation will be the first to go.
That is a frustrating part of how union contracts work. If the administration could pick and choose, then perhaps they would only have to fire 10 higher paid teachers instead of 20 lower paid teachers - thus reducing the negative impact on the district. The seniority rules work to make any cuts more painful on the kids.
Posted by Owen on February 27, 2010 at 1329 hrs
Teachers would be layed off, not “fired”. Your choice of words is tied to your attitude towards teachers’ unions, which is based on teachers union myths that Obama is buying too: Bust ‘em up cause Students and communties and scoio-economics are all the same, you’re trained, Deal with it.
Charlie,
The private businesses are laying off the older workers if they can; experience ain’t cheap. Although I’m all for laying off 45+ year olds everywhere: They are expensive, and their insurance costs are higher. Be up fron about that rather than hiding behind BS young worker empathy: It’s about the numbers. The older workers were always facing this; fate caught the younger ones here.Good move, huh? Kudos, huh? Who pushed the arbitration button? Anyone ever bother to ask? I wonder why not? I bet this answer will not provided or sought/ covered here or in the paper.
This is a testament to the board’s negotitating skills too. Spread the credit objectively.
“There is no choice here” Black and white or biurification fallacy:There are no choices to people who have closed their mind to other options.
Done wasting your time and mine.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 27, 2010 at 1337 hrs
Who pushed the arbitration button? Anyone ever bother to ask? I wonder why not?
Um, yes.
http://www.bootsandsabers.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/some_west_bend_school_district_news/
Are you paying attention? Or does anonymity somehow liberate you from thoughtful discourse?
Posted by Owen on February 27, 2010 at 1351 hrs
The private businesses are laying off the older workers if they can
And, of course, that’s a statement by someone who is totally ignorant of the private sector. In tough times, smart businesses lay off people who are unproductive regardless of age. Obviously if you are making more money or benefits, your bar is higher. Of course experience counts, but does not trump everything else.
Some businesses, like my own, have avoided layoffs by reducing hours and lowering salaries (primarily for core management).There are no choices to people who have closed their mind to other options.
OK anon, you’ve got your soapbox. Enlighten us as to the myriad of options available to the Board.
Posted by Charlie Hillman on February 27, 2010 at 1422 hrs
I completely agree.
In tough times, smart businesses lay off people who are unproductive regardless of age. Obviously if you are making more money or benefits, your bar is higher. Of course experience counts, but does not trump everything else.
Posted by Owen on February 27, 2010 at 1446 hrs
The best teachers need to be kept-and the 22 worst on a stack rank basis may need to go.(depending on what the teachers decide to d0)
Firing the newest teachers is a bad idea -if they are really good at what they do
in my mind $125K+ for a great teacher isn"t too much to pay.
What they do exceptionally can’t be reproduced for $50K as some on this board have suggested
-on the other hand- $50k for a poor teacher is $50k too much to spend.
Jack Welch built GE by rewarding superior performance and firing inferior performers of any age.
I want the very best teachers handling those larger class sizes-not the cheapest or the ones with the
most time spent in grad schoolsJust the best teachers-the one’s who love the job-love the kids-are great at what they do-and would do it for free if they didn’t need food and shelter.
a guy can dream
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 27, 2010 at 2323 hrs
Charlie Hillman,
1. sell the esc
2. Hint to save $$$ : When is a car most inefficient? This is an old blue collar shop class question. Since no one who’s logged in yet has taken an auto class, you all gonna need help. Call the life line.
3. early retirement : brand new cheap hire vs old / end of the pay scale expensive employee
$10+K savings each
4. eliminate all new/current trend education pursuits : no seminars…go all in-house
5. cut a deal with ____???_____ to make the biggest energy sucking things in the district more efficient: energy is just gonna go up.
6. demand CFAC, da board, da super-superintendent, city business owners/planners/elected officials (maye even some county robots) meet (more than one freakin time) to jointly discuss/solve this problem (this extended action will support some people’s arguments that the quality of the schools is a catalyst of business and housing growth (because people are actually pro-acting on the idea)thoughts
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 28, 2010 at 0014 hrs
Zero-base budget the curriculum: Eliminate all non-essential offerings above and beyond state/fed minimum requirements for accepting state/fed monies: sports, arts, music, libraries…anything and everything. The 50s/60s/70s/80s Leave it Beaver school is a blip in time tax payer subsidized sitcom fantasy. All those “extra” offerings currently provided/subsidized only show some unsupported/undocumented “correlations” to good schools, not direct connections to good schools, and there are plenty of schools that do just fine without them. If families leave or don’t come, an unsupported prediction/threat, there goes the “overcrowding” problem. Low taxes will continue to attract business to west bend and with business comes house buyers, families, and kid$$$ = long term stability. Non-essentials = unnecessary liberalism.
Hortonville/Rhode Island the teachers: Issue lay off notices to all; Rename the district and perform the necessary legal business to create a whole new legal entity. Invest in litigation, get the legal advice, and ELIMINATE maximum fiscal obligations to current/past employees. in summer rehire just out of college, non-union work on a new severely reduced pay/bennies scale. eliminate pay increases for taking college cred.
Either way, with these last two points, there’ll be enough monies left over to fix the building structural issues (-overcrowding) without raising taxes or going to another referendum for a decade.
That’s conservative business management
owen, who formally asked for the arbitrators?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 28, 2010 at 0929 hrs
Every time someone wants an easy answer, they go back to the well and pull out Zero Based Budgeting. It’s not a fix-all solution and not simple or cheap to implement. The Washington County Board is one of the most fiscally conservative bodies around and they’ve done very well with incremental budgeting.
As for Hortonville, as far as I know the only organization that reorganized was their teachers’ union; the district fired the teachers, it didn’t reinvent itself. The district could have settled for around $26,000 and ended up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, as did the union. Both sides share culpability for stubbornness that tore apart the community. Hortonville is NOT something we should emulate.
Many of Anon’s suggestions pretty much ignore collective bargaining and age discrimination laws.
I hope the teachers look carefully at the public employees’ unions that settled for 0% or took cuts (e.g. West Bend, Jackson, Washington County, Dane County) to avoid lay-offs. This is the economic reality they have to face.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 28, 2010 at 1336 hrs
anon,
The link says the district pulled the trigger on arbitration.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 28, 2010 at 1336 hrs
Jed -(I hope the teachers look carefully at the public employees’ unions that settled for 0% or took cuts (e.g. West Bend, Jackson, Washington County, Dane County) to avoid lay-offs. This is the economic reality they have to face.)
Agree, under the circumstances that would be the right thing for them to do.
But grab what’s left of your wallet, here they come with their hand out again!Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 28, 2010 at 2049 hrs
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