School Board Denies Pay Raises For Some Teachers

By  //  May 7, 2012

No Wage Hikes For Some Since 2007

BREVARD COUNTY • VIERA, FLORIDA – The first day of “National Teacher Appreciation Week” got off to a rough start Monday for Brevard Public Schools teachers.

In a five-hour impasse hearing before the Brevard County School Board, the school district and the teachers union presented arguments to uphold or overturn the decision of a special magistrate in February regarding pay raises for teachers, discretionary teacher planning time and adjustments to the teacher salary schedule placement.

The board ruled unanimously 5-0 on all three impasse issues, siding with the district and agreeing with the special magistrate denying some teachers wage increases, requiring that all teacher planning days be spent on school campuses and keeping the salary schedule placement grid as is.

Long haul

Many Brevard teachers have worked without a raise in pay since the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.

Last year 2011, the district offered across-the-board bonuses to teachers in lieu of raises, but the union countered that and showed that money could be found within the district’s budget to award modest raises instead.

If the magistrate’s ruling had been overturned, most teachers would have received an average raise of $1,319 annually under the union’s proposal.

Instead, Brevard teachers hired since a wage freeze was implemented in 2007 will receive a one-time bonus of $350, while some other teachers will get a one-time bonus of $700, but other teachers will receive a step increase and a small raises under terms of the new contract.

Refuting 

In refuting the union’s claim that money was available to give all teachers raises, Brevard Public Schools superintendent Dr. Brian Binggeli cited data that issuing raises would create a recurring commitment to increased spending for next year and beyond.

Dr. Brian T. Binggeli is superintendent of Brevard Public Schools. (Image courtesy of Brevard Public Schools)

“For the 2010-2011 school year we cut $75 million, eliminated 116 positions, reduced funding support and spent $6 million to meet the class size amendment,” Binggeli told the school board.

“Our local revenue barely comes up to our long-term debt.”

He said the union’s proposal would add as much as $12 in recurring debt for the district and he opposed adding further debt at a time of economic uncertainty.

Dan Bennett of the Brevard Federation of Teachers shared with the board how savings could be found in the budget to fund the raises, such as by drawing additional funds through the attrition of teachers retiring at the top of the salary scale and then replaced by new teachers just starting out at the bottom of the pay scale.

“The effect of all of this today will be devastating for Brevard teachers,” Bennett said.

“They passed a divisive compensation package on the first day of National Teacher Appreciation Week and it had nothing to do about the money.

“It’s incredible for teachers to learn how their district just treated them,” Bennett said.

“The district initiated a 2.2 percent bonus and has had it posted on their website, but now they tell them the bonus they thought they would be getting instead is $350. What would you make of that?”

Candidate for reelection

School board member Karen Henderson of Viera said she voted to uphold the magistrate’s decision because it was the right thing to do.

“I read the magistrate’s recommendations and he was supposed to be impartial and reviewed these issues objectively,” Henderson said. “After hearing comments on the amount of money to be spent, I agreed that we need to be conservative in our approach to this.”

Henderson, who is up for re-election to the school board, said she was aware teachers who have supported her previously or other constituents might not approve her vote to deny raises for teachers.

“I don’t know how it will affect my campaign or the election,” she said. “At the end of the day I have to do what is best for the district as a whole and I stand by my decision.”

Dan Bennett spoke on behalf of the Brevard Federation of Teachers at Monday's impasse hearing in Viera. (Image by Ed Pierce)

The board also voted to deny teachers off-campus planning days.

Until this school year, teachers had a provision in their contract that allowed for the equivalent of five non-student days per year to be planning days used at a teacher’s discretion.

That has allowed teachers to take their laptops or other materials off campus and spend hours working at locations other than their worksites.

The contract provision took into account the countless hours that teachers work from home during the school year.

However, the district removed the discretionary clause from this year’s contract without teacher or school board ratification as required by law. Monday’s decision by the school board made the removal of that clause official.

The board also voted to leave the salary schedule placement chart intact, but to add a clarification paragraph for prospective teachers interested in reviewing the district’s pay plan.

The union had proposed to make the chart more realistic by showing salary for years of experience, but Binggeli argued that the new chart would confuse existing teachers and he couldn’t support a measure to clarify the salary schedule for those looking at possible employment with the district at the expense of more than 5,000 teachers already working here.

Many teachers were upset that the impasse hearing was scheduled at 9 a.m. on a Monday, not allowing them an opportunity to attend the hearing because it was a school day.

The revised contract will now be reviewed by Brevard teachers and then voted upon.

If the teachers do not accept the terms of the contract, the district and the union will be forced to renegotiate the contact, including all tentative agreements previously agreed on with the exception of the issues resolved at the impasse hearing.

7 Comments

  1. By leaving the newest teachers out of the step increases, Brevard is telling them they are not valued. So they will get a bit of experience under their belts and then transfer to a district that pays more. Anyone who understands business knows how continued attrition and constant new hiring can undermine productivity.

    And how many parents want their kids to get new teachers throughout the year? I sure don’t! I bet Dr. Binggelli hasn’t told the school board just how bad the attrition problem is getting — schools need revolving doors these days!

  2. Sadly, I cannot afford to leave teaching right now, but oh, if I could! And, I can not afford to stay. This is exactly what our School Board is counting on. They have unhappy teachers but don’t really care. They have drones that are stuck and can’t get out. I am so happy for the number of teachers taking early retirement or leaving for other countries. Good for them!

  3. Above quote from Karen Henderson: “I don’t know how it will affect my campaign or the election,” she said. “At the end of the day I have to do what is best for the district as a whole and I stand by my decision.” You have got to be kidding me! You mean this moron of a school board member actually speaks. She is a waste of my school tax money personified and I’m Barbara Murray told Ms. Noncontributor how to vote I’m sure. Barbara Murray, now there’s an Ice Queen if ever I saw one and she is spreading her toxic malaise over principal wannabees in UCF’s Ed Leadership Program. Krupp, what a disappointment you turned out to be gramps. Ziegler, you haven’t got a clue and Kneessy, cool it with the “I understand what teaching is all about…I know the struggles because I teach at BCC”…really, REALLY?

  4. Someone remind me where the lecture “How to Maximize the Financial You” occurred when earning a teaching degree in college. Newsflash: the world banks, Wall Street, and U.S. housing market crumbled in 2007 and 2008. It’s a slow rebuilding process. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Teachers hired since 2007 were very fortunate to land a job. The state of Florida doesn’t fund public education according to its own constitutional requirement. It is a red state representative-wise. What were new teachers expecting?

  5. What a bunch of crap! How can the school board and ‘magistrate’ railroad our teachers like this and not be subject to public outrage? If all the long term debt is equal to our yearly revenues, then we are at about 30 percent of what fortune 500 companies consider maximum healthy long-term debt ratios. Give the teachers a F*&$ing raise already. They work 50-60 hours a week, they put up with all kinds of non-sense from all directions, and we trust them to educate our kids. What is being asked of them is worth paying for, otherwise we will see our workforce continue to be degraded, our kids undereducated, and our communities suffer for our lack of willingness to invest in their future. If money is such a big deal, ask the large scale waterfront property owners to give a tiny part of their multimillion dollar tax breaks back.

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