In the currently proposed school board budget, 82 cents of every of your property tax dollar goes towards salaries an fringe benefits.If we want to reduce the budget, we need to get the 800 lb gorilla on a TrimFast diet. The first step towards doing that is to make a stand with administrators' salaries. They are expecting a raise of about 2%.
As Al Borland and Jill Taylor would say, "We don't think so, Tim."
Instead, here's what the school board needs to do:
1. Ultimately, in this economic climate NO ONE should be getting raises. Realizing, however, that there are not 4 school board members with enough backbone to freeze salaries, the best we can hope is to give no more than 1%. And we suggest making that what the state terms a "non-base-building" raise that doesn't keep on keeping on.
2. We need to seriously increase the percentage share that these employees pay towards their health insurance premiums. State employees pay between 6 and 8% of their health insurance and dental coverage (save for annual exams and cleanings) has been discontinued. In 2009-10, administrators paid 4% of their health insurance premiums and ZERO for their dental premiums. Remember that Local 60 members pay 9% towards health insurance and 14.5% of dental premiums.
3. Increasing the employees' share of insurance premiums will mitigate any small raise they receive. This year has to be at worst a cost neutral contract, or preferably, move towards reducing the overall district budget.
4. Repeat steps 1 -3 for Admin Support and Substitute teachers. For Local 60, ultimately we should reduce their percentage contributions towards health insurance to a common school board benchmark.
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