Board of Ed and RTA Still at Odds Over contract
 
– By Jim Byrne –

The Board of Education and Rye Teachers’ Association failed to come to an agreement on a new teachers’ contract at a scheduled negotiating session September 22. They failed even to negotiate. The meeting, which was the second since the Board rejected a fact finder’s report in late June, lasted approximately 10 minutes, according to RTA Chief Negotiator Bill Schrammel.
“We are extremely disappointed,” said Schrammel. “We want to get this done, but can’t if people are not willing to talk.”
In a letter drafted to the community September 23, Board President Josh Nathan wrote that the RTA was offered a salary and benefits package that provided teachers with a 24.4% increase in total compensation over a five-year contract term. Nathan said the contract would keep them among the best paid in Westchester. Under the terms, Rye teachers would contribute 15% for health insurance premiums as opposed to the 8% they currently pay. The salary schedule would also be extended from 15 to 17 years in an attempt to slow budget growth.
“Given that increases in teachers’ salaries and benefits drive more than half of the annual increase in our local school taxes, we believe that this package is at the limit of what our community will support when it comes to passing budgets over the next several years,” Nathan said in the letter.
The current teachers’ contract expired in June of 2007. For the 2007-08 school year, the average teacher earned $87,831. The Board reached an agreement on a new contract with Rye’s teaching assistants in June that included a 15% health care contribution. Teaching aides earned $24,885 on average in 2007-08.
The RTA has requested the Board accept the fact finder’s report, which called for yearly salary increases of 3.5% and annual step increments averaging an additional 4.3% over the course of the suggested four-year contract. Teachers would contribute an average of 9.25% per year towards health care.
“Again, we’re not asking for the moon,” said Schrammel. “We just want what other districts are getting. But, it’s all part of the process, and we have to continue to talk as long as it drags out. Everyone has to be open and willing to listen.”
Since negotiations began nearly two years ago, the United States economy has drastically changed for the worse, and Rye has not been insulated from the Wall Street meltdown.
“The community has been a terrific supporter of public school education and we’ve built an excellent school district, nationally ranked among the very best,” said Nathan. “That said, there are fiscal limits, there always have been, and the current economic events will likely further inform those limits.
“It has been a Board priority to slow the growth of the District's budget, as we are very sensitive to what the community is willing to pay in local property taxes. Current events affirm this priority. It's a challenge for the District as enrollment growth, unfunded State mandates and cuts in our State aid drive up our costs.”
Schrammel said that, like all Americans, Rye’s teachers are affected by the economic crisis. “It’s hitting us as much as it is hitting anyone else,” said Schrammel. “We have to pay property taxes. What about families with a member working in the schools? One spouse might be a teacher, and the other might have been laid off. Often times it takes two incomes to survive. It’s the same turmoil for us, we are no different.”
Though it’s not mandated as part of the negotiating process, the RTA has requested that a supermediator be appointed to come in and help the sides reach an agreement, a request the Board is considering. No decision has been made as of press time.