Last night, school district administrators agreed to a contract "negotiation" salary and benefits package. In what was expected by some to be a protracted battle, administrations representatives simply said, "We'll take it", regarding the school board's offer:1% SALARY INCREASE
1% ADDITIONAL PAY TOWARDS HEALTH INSURANCE
2% ADDITIONAL PAY TOWARDS DENTAL INSURANCE
There was some talk from Caren Diedrich about the school board changing its offer from initial...we wonder what it was initially.
Could the 1% be the magic number that was buried within the budget for raises?
There are many that will think, "They shouldn't get any raise at all...their [insert expletive here] salaries should be frozen".
....and we're inclined to agree.
However...the simple reality is that there are not 4 elected board members who collectively own a pair of cojones to freeze salaries. That is the fact, Jack.
WE the community elected them, so WE the community need to take responsibility for their lack of ...er....parts. Perhaps at next spring's elections, the community will take a deeper interest in candidates and support only those candidates who possess the required...let's say intestinal fortitude....to stand firm and represent the community's interests as well as they support education. Raises for administrators are not going to get our kids to scholarship levels.
A roadmap for other "contracts"?
Like dominoes toppling over in sequence, this agreement should establish the market for Administrative Support, Substitute Teachers, Local 60, and....come next spring...teachers.
Let the message ring loudly and clearly: 1% is the best you're going to get in this economy...and you WILL be paying a higher share of insurance premiums (except Local 60, who have been screwed for years).
We suspect we'll take some hits for this, but kudos to the school board for finally showing some semblance of fiscal restraint. Now let the other dominoes tumble and revise the budget DOWNWARD. This was the most community-friendly deal that the current school board was going to get done. And for at least a majority of them...even this deal is quite amazing. It may not be cost-neutral, but when one factors in the out-of-pocket costs associated with the 1% more towards health insurance (they are paying 4% now) and 2% more (it was 0%) towards dental, the percentage is much less than 1%. Remember this is the group that felt they were "entitled" to a 4.5% package increase last year, but "settled" for 3.8%.
If the average administrator makes $90K, a 1% increase is about $900.
Paying and additional 1% for health and 2% dental costs about $350-$400.
That means a net increase of about $500 for family insurance premiums. That, folks, we can live with.
Dear school board...nicely done. Keep the dominoes falling.
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