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Factors Impacting Labor Relations Public School Districts in Western New York Spring of 2012. Presented by: Dr. Patrick M. Phelan; Assistant Superintendent West Seneca Central School District Response by: Mr. Michael Deely ; Western Regional Director of
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Factors Impacting Labor Relations Public School Districts in Western New York Spring of 2012 Presented by: Dr. Patrick M. Phelan; Assistant Superintendent West Seneca Central School District Response by: Mr. Michael Deely; Western Regional Director of New York State United Teachers May 16, 2012
LERA of Western New York Special Thank You to: All Members of the Executive Committee Elisha Tomasello Erin Bowie Sandy Luedke
Factors impacting Labor Relations in School Districts in WNY • Economics – (Always seem to be a factor) • Dynamics of the School Reform Movement • vs. • Impact of New York State Education Law, Commissioner Regulations and terms and conditions in labor agreements negotiated over the last 44 years.
Factors impacting Labor Relations in School Districts in WNY • Reduction in State Aid and the implementation of a cap on property taxes to fund education. • More reduction in Staff through attrition and layoffs than the industry has seen in a generation. • Smaller student and general population. • Change in demographics.
Factors impacting Labor Relations in School Districts in WNY • Significant role of the Federal Government in Education/Funding. • Implementation of what is known as the “Common Core” Curriculum. • Continued evolution of Charter Schools. • Implementation of the Annual Professional Performance Review/Teacher Evaluation System
Good News Caring and thoughtful people are advocating, in a democratic society, what they believe is in the best interest of the development, and betterment, of the next generation.
Current climate of Labor Relations in School Districts’ has been over 225 years in the making
“We the People” in 1787 Males White Property Owners
“We the People” in 2012 Males and Females All races Inclusive of diverse social and economic backgrounds
Education For 225 years Education in the United States was Governed by the individual States. That has changed!
New York State Constitution Education Clause Language “The legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated.”
Rules for Teachers 1872 • 1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys. • 2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session. • 3. Make your pens carefully. You many whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils. • 4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly. • 5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books. • 6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed. • 7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden to society. • 8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in nay form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will given reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty. • 9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.
1947 – 1967 Condon-Wadlin Act: • Prohibited strikes and required the dismissal of public employees who struck. • After being fired, striking employees could be reinstated to a five year probationary period at the same pay level they received prior to striking and could not receive a pay increase for 3 years.
Wages and Terms and Conditions of Employment for Teachers 1950’s • Teachers Earning = $2,600 per year/$52 per week. • Common for Female Teachers to take a mandatory 2 year leave when they realized they were pregnant. • Prior permission had to obtained from Administrators before teachers could contact elected officials.
Albert Shanker; President of the United Federation of Teachers 1964 to 1984; President of the American Federation of Teachers 1974 to 1997.
United States Department of Education Created by the Department of Education Organization Act and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on October 17, 1979. It began operating on May 4, 1980
Quote from 1983 Nation at Risk “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.”
Charter School Movement The charter school idea in the United States was originated by Ray Budde, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and embraced by Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers. In 1988 Shanker called for the reform of the public schools by establishing "charter schools" or "schools of choice".
Charter School Movement Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter school law in 1991. California was second, in 1992. As of 2009, 41 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws.
2001 No Child Left Behind Act NCLB supports standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. States must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels in order to receive federal school funding
Sources of Revenue for School Budgets State Aid Local Property Tax Sales Tax Grants (Race to the Top) Utilization of Fund Balance
Andrew Cuomo, laid out the emergency fiscal plan designed to help bridge a $9 billion budget gap in fiscal 2012 during his State of the State speech.
2012-2013 Cuomo Budget message • When Governor Cuomo took office on January 1, 2011, the State faced a budget gap of $10 billion in 2011-12 that grew to nearly $15 billion in 2012-13 — a combined imbalance of nearly $25 billion. • An on-time budget approved by the Governor and Legislature on March 31, 2011 eliminated the entire $10 billion imbalance and significantly reduced the budget gap for 2012-13 to $3.5 billion. • The two-year combined budget gap has declined by over 86 percent from the level it stood at when Governor Cuomo took office.
State Aid to Education The Fiscal Year 2013 state budget began on April 1, 2012. Lawmakers passed the $132.6 billion budget on March 30, 2012. New York's school districts will receive $20 billion in state aid for the 2012-2013 school year. An increase of about $750 million, or 3.9 percent, compared to 2011-2012.
Tax Cap and New York City Rent Regulations • Rent regulations are a top priority for the Assembly Democrats, which draw many of their members from the New York City area. • In contrast, Senate Republicans prioritize a bill that would cap property tax increases at 2 percent a year. Soaring property taxes are a major concern for their mostly suburban and upstate constituents.
June 21, 2011 • New York state legislative leaders reached tentative agreements on rent control and a property tax cap. • Senate Republicans agreed to a framework that would limit annual increases in the tax levy -- the total amount raised by school districts or other local government entities -- to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. It would allow exceptions for legal penalties, some pension costs and, in the case of school districts, voter-approved capital projects and bus purchases.
Race to the Top Money The $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund is an unprecedented federal investment in reform. The program includes $4 billion for statewide reform grants and $350 million to support states working together to improve the quality of their assessments, which the Department plans to award in September.
Criteria for a State to Qualify for Race to the Top Grant • Great Teachers and Leaders • Improving teacher and principal effectiveness • Standards and Assessments • Developing and adopting common standards (from the Common Core State Standards Initiative) • General Selection Criteria • Ensuring successful conditions for high-performing charters and other innovative schools
Criteria to Qualify for the Race to the Top Grant • Turning Around the Lowest-Achieving Schools • Turning around the lowest-achieving schools • Data Systems to Support Instruction • Using data to improve instruction
John King, Commissioner of Education in the State of New York
New York Wins Race to the Top Grant - Aug. 24, 2010 New York State has won about $700 million as part of a competitive federal education grant known as Race to the Top. State lawmakers passed legislation to double the number of charter schools in the state to 460 to improve the state’s chances at securing the money.
New York Wins Race to the Top Grant - Aug. 24, 2010 New York also approved a plan that will allow local school districts to use student test scores in teacher evaluations, a practice teachers’ unions have bitterly opposed for years. But local school officials will still have to negotiate with the union over the details of the evaluations.
Employees who Make up a School District Work Force Administrators Teachers Instructional Support - Aides, Nurses, Social Workers, Counselors Clerical Support Technology Support Transportation Buildings and Grounds Food Service
Tenure – What does it Mean? • After meeting the criteria for certification, generally being employed in your area of certification for 3 years, a Board of Education can grant an individual “tenure”. • Tenure means you own a property right to your position and cannot be denied your property right without the due process of law. • Due process of law in Ney York State – Section 3020-a of the Education Law.
