On Tap for Monday: Administrator "Raise Pool"

On Monday, November 26, 2012 (6:30 PM, Municipal Bldg) the Sun Prairie School Board is poised to take action to approve a 2% across the board raise for administrators.

FINANCIAL/BUDGET/OTHER RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS:

The 2012-2013 budget adopted by the School Board includes $51,157 designated for administrative salary increases.   This amount is equivalent to the 2% salary pool necessary to fund the motion of the committee.

RECOMMENDATION:

“To increase administration salary pool by 2 percent to be distributed by the District Administrator according to the performance evaluation system.”

On the School Board side of negotiations:

School Board’s Administrative Compensation and Benefits Committee, Caren Diedrich, Tom Weber, and John Whalen

On the Administrator side:  Craig Coulthart, Nancy Hery, Liz Merrick and Wendi Tavs.

We have two comments based on the information provided:

(1) The recommendation indicates that the "administration salary pool" is to be "increased by 2%".  How much was in there already?  Is there MORE than the $51,157?

(2) Bear in mind that 2/3 of the school board side of negotiations were noted Tim Culver lap dogs John Whalen and Caren Diedrich.  Look...we get it...When in the (*heartburn moment*) Board Treasurer, and Diedrich is the Chair of the former Human Resources Committee.  

The 4% vs. the 96%

OK...we lied...we have one more comment to make.

The total dollar increase for [the Local 60] settlement (11-12-12) was $176,744.00 

shared by 333.64 employees

or $529.74 each

vs. the administrator team, which would get $51,157

shared by 28.5 FTE

or $1,794.98 each

Really?  Did we not hear over the last 4 months about the wealthy getting wealthier at the expense of the middle and lower classes?

The Local 60 group includes 11.7 times the number of employees as the administrators' group...

yet they will collectively receive only 3.45 times as much salary dollars.

Super-Size Admin Salaries; Just Plain Super-Size the Rest of The Work Force

That's about $10 more each week (pre-tax) that Local 60 workers will get.  Maybe enough to splurge for a family night out at McDonald's ...if one sticks to the Dollar Menu.  Meanwhile, each Administrator ,on average-pretax, would see an increase of about $35.00...enough for a decent sit down dinner somewhere.  

Why does it have to be about food?  Hey...we didn't start the "translating tax levy increase to pizzas" .  We like to assess blame for poor food choices and the obesity epidemic.  And some rightly so.  But you know what?  We are helping to create this situation...and we need to own that.  The folks earning $90,000 per year (and that's just ONE bread-earner's income) have no trouble making their rent/mortgage payments and they can afford to make good food choices.  They can also afford a membership to the local athletic club and even a personal trainer.

Meanwhile, those folks that earn only $12 or $13/hour have seriously difficult choices to make: pay the rent to keep a home, or eat well.  But nobody wants to talk about that.  Many of those folks eat poorly because it beats not eating.  An athletic club membership?  Personal trainer.  Please!!!!  Not even on the radar screen for most.  But nobody wants to talk about that either.

What we fail to consider, in our haste to keep our administrator and teacher salaries on par with the Jones', is that we have 333 Local 60 employees and we rarely hear any talk of a need to "be competitive" for those jobs.  In fact, it may be that the best selling point for a Local 60 opening is, "Hey...it beats the pay you'd earn at McDonald's".

At some point we have to look at this equation...and that's not limited to Sun Prairie.  That extends to the entire state and the nation.  Do the administrators do a good job?  Sure...some of them are absolutely awesome (and most know who those are).  Others.....meh....not so much.

At what point do we say....hey....on average, each administrator earns $89,750 (do the math....if 2% of the total administrator salary is $51,157 and there are 28.5 FTE).  Is that a good wage?  Sure...the cost of living increases each year....but aren't these people well ahead of the curve to begin with?  But these are the people that earn enough to have, in addition to a fine primary home, a nice cabin up north and a boat and other luxuries, while many in Local 60 have trouble making ends meet.

We've finally been hit on the head with enough coconuts to understand that many teachers "off the salary grid" are earning a pretty damn spanky living, while those fresh out of school are underpaid.  The proposal made to the teachers raises the floor and earmarks the majority of the "2% allocation" to those teachers with less than 6 years experience.  The contract proposal offers a small stipend --non-base building) for those teachers in the middle and upper end.  If we're starting to move towards creating some sort of ceiling for teachers, at what point do we do the same for administrators?

And how do we really tie raises to performance?  The administrative pool is dished out as Tim Culver sees fit, based on his "evaluations" of the administrators.  Look at the past data.  It's clear there are favorites and its clear that some are in the doghouse (sometimes rightfully so).

Aaaaaahhhhhhh...we could go on and on...but you either get it...or you don't.  This country DOES need a fiscal wake up....just not the menu being offered by the Mitten Man.   So go on and award 2% raises to people that do not need it...and to some who do not deserve it.   And while we're at it, let's be sure to make those raises "base-building" so that they can in turn be raised by future increases.  

Teachers Declare They Deserve a 3.1% Wage Increase

Listen...we value teachers.  Really, we do.
But it borders on unmitigated gall for them to rally at the meeting at which the school board's Finance Committee was slated to approve the district's proposed budget for 2012-13 and forward it to the full board for final approval and adoption.

Where have you been?

Caren Diedrich actually got it right when she chastised the large group of teachers in the audience.   She asked, accusingly, "Where the hell were you 4...5....6 months ago?  We needed to hear from you long before our backs were up against the wall.  You cannot wait till the 11th hour."
Can you blames them for not coming off the lake to attend a public hearing?
Diedrich's point is well taken; where WERE these folks at the public hearings on the budget?  Oh...wait...those were during the summer.  Our bad...teachers are off all summer.

Forgive us if we offend...but frankly the whole attitude on display was offensive.

At best, seniors will likely get a 1.5% increase in Social Security

What make you more deserving than anyone else?
Do any of these teacher have parents living on social security?  We guess not.  Do you care about those folks?  The current projections for a COLA (Cost of living adjustment) for seniors on social security is a whopping 1.5% increase.  And that's on an income of less than $20K.  Gee...your 2% doesn't look so bad now does it?

State employees, who have had NO raises since 2008, will get NO RAISES for 2013.  Or likely in 2014 either.  Municipal employees are finding similar territory.  What about private sector workers who haven't even made up ground lost since 2008?

Again, forgive us, but this sense of entitlement is really getting old.  In our humble opinion, you are actually turning more people off than developing a rally around yourselves.

Can we stop with the sob stories?
"I'm not getting paid what my friends get paid, yet I'm more educated and work more hours..."
"I took a pay cut to come to Sun Prairie and it's taken me 10 years to get back.."
"[A 3.1% raise] would make us feel valued..."
"With a 2% increase and insurance changes I will earn less"
"I can't afford to take too many more hits [on my paycheck] before I need to choose something else"

Even curriculum leadership was tossed under the bus vs. coaching!
"We [coach] 4-5 hours per day for 5-6 days each week for a small stipend.  Not trying to bash the CLC stipends, but they don't put in the time that [coaches] do."

Again....do you people realize that people are losing their homes!  We watched as an in-home daycare provider --who may have cared for some of your kids-- lost their home to foreclosure.
You seem to forget that you pay less for your insurance benefits --and get better benefits--than state workers do.   The E/R co-pay for state workers has long been $75....which is STILL more than you pay with an increase.  Maybe save the E/R for...um...emergencies?  You folks get dental insurance--at very low expense, while most of the rest of us have to pay those costs out of pocket.  Are you even aware--do you even care--that state workers have to pay $600/year to get $500-$1000 worth of dental coverage?

The sob stories aren't working.  Many people that did NOT flood the meeting are worse off than you.  Seriously, there's a part of us that wants to say, "If you're not happy, then you know where the door is and watch that it doesn't smack your backside on the way out."  But we shouldn't say that...so we won't.  Because if you're not happy, you're probably less effective in your job anyway.  And this district is not going to be held hostage to making you happy.

It's not just 3.1% either; raises could be as high as 8.1%!
But they won't tell you that, will they?  This is the classic magician's game.  Focus on the raise and maybe people will forget about "the other stuff" they get.  Most of the public do not know that the current teachers contract calls for an automatic 2% "step increase" each year they teach.  Now, some teachers have taught so long that they "fall off the grid" and are therefore no longer eligible for the 2% increase

Then there are the "lane" increases.  Gain 6 credits (2 college courses) and you get a 3% increase!  So a younger teacher who was here last year, gets a 2% pay bump automatically.  If they've completed 6 credits, they get another 3% bump.  And now...2% MORE isn't good enough?  You could see a 7% increase yet you want to demand 8.1%? It's called reality and you need to come to grips with it.

And then there are a ton of other opportunities for additional "stipends" on top of salaries.  It has been estimated that as much as $1.8M per year is divvied out to staff for these other opportunities.   If one adds up budget lines 105,106,107, and 110 (Extracurricular, Summer school, Leadership Council and "Other" Salaries) the total for 2012-13 is $1.9M.   That would translate to over $3,000 for every single SPEA member.

And you're not earning enough?
As we said...we value what you do, but you try our patience.  For a group that keeps saying that you don't do it for the money, it seems to be all about the benjamins.