This came in today, it has been making the rounds.... Yeah Plainview, Yeah Patrice and David!! I applaud you.
Dear Mrs. Weinstein and the POBCSD Board of Education,
Having spent a sleepless night last night after attending the Board of Education meeting, I felt I needed to express my thanks to you and to the rest of the school board for standing up to the PCT union and not giving into their current contract demands.
In today's economy, I just cannot understand how anyone who gets guaranteed pension returns can also demand pay increases from the residents of Plainview and Old Bethpage who are struggling just to make ends meet. I don't know anyone who has not had to make a sacrifice in salary, benefits and even working hours in order to keep their jobs if, in fact, they still have a job to keep. Most of us would like to still have a pension fund, let alone being guaranteed rates of return on it.
My husband and I both work in the healthcare field where pay raises have not been given for more than 3 years. In addition, one of the strongest unions in the nation, Healthcare Workers Local 1199, recently renegotiated their 3% raise down to 0% in an effort to help keep healthcare facilities operating - and keep their jobs.
With everyone pitching in and making sacrifices, I just can't fathom how our teacher's union can't realize that although we have supported them in the past, continue to support them now and do appreciate everything that they do for our children, we just don't have the money at present to give to them. Not when we need to feed and cloth our children and keep a roof over their heads. This has nothing to do with the union "not losing any ground" in relation to the other school districts and what other teachers are earning in those school district - it has to do with the fact that we just cannot afford to give them a raise.
Am I embarrased (as Morty Rosenfled suggested we feel) by the Board's attempt to make the the union feel guilty for asking for a raise in addition to the mandated pension rate increases that they will automatically get? Absolutely not; I applaud you.
In retrospect, I am sorry that I did not get up last night to say thanks to all of you during the meeting, but I am saying it now.
Thank you. And keep up the great work.
Respectfully,
Patrice and David
Plainview, NY 11803
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The board needs to hold the dam back. It's good to find out that they have our best interests in mind. I only wish they had responded like my wife's boss did: "..sorry, no raises this year, the economy is really effecting our bottom line."
ReplyDeleteWhat was explained at the BOE meeting was that the teachers ARE getting raises by being there another year - it's built in - called steps.
ReplyDeleteEach step has an increase. The contract would raises would raise the amounts set for those steps.
It was pointed out in the presentation that for some steps, over two years, the rate of salary increase was 8%.
That is without anything additional being added to the table.
The union is unbelievable! They are holding the children hostage. Every community member should let the School Board know that they have our support!!
ReplyDeleteThe union needs to teach and cut it out NOW. Maybe when they have cut out the bullying and one sided-ness in the district, I will have a little sympathy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should start by not posting things anonymously!
ReplyDeleteRight, and have the teachers single out our children. Do you for one minute believe that that doesn't happen. Please their Union leader makes an announcement at the board meeting that teachers will be writing letters of rec. for college but when the kids ask the teachers they tell the kids when we have a contract! The Principal wants the parents to give him the name of teachers who say that, yeah sure so they can go back and mess with the kid who ratted them out. Tell the Board to stay the course, hell tell the board that the teachers deserve less!!!
ReplyDeleteRegarding step increases... as the Board presentation pointed out, the majority of teachers in Plainview are so highly qualified and so greatly experienced, that they no longer make advances along steps. Their salary has reached the maximum. Steps only cover the first 10 years of service. So no raise would indeed amount to 0% increase.
ReplyDeleteI agree the economy has been hard hit, but I wonder how the residents of Syosset, Farmingdale, Uniondale, Herricks, New Hyde Park have managed to afford an increase this year for their teachers? Have they been less hard hit by this economy?