By Andrew Coen
Given three straight years of budget defeats in District 15 and a feeling among many residents of the community that teachers are being paid too much compared with other Long Island districts, the upcoming negotiations promise to come under unprecedented public scrutiny.
According to the State Education Department, Lawrence teachers, as a group, are the second highest paid on Long Island, behind only Manhasset, with District 15 teachers earning a median salary of $78,588 a year, and 25 percent of them making $100,000 or more.
In the $85 million 2004-05 budget, roughly $32 million is earmarked for teacher salaries, excluding benefits, and about 70 percent of the budget pays for salaries and benefits, according to district officials.
At recent school board and Lawrence Association meetings, some residents have voiced displeasure over the current teachers' contract and demanded concessions in the upcoming negotiations. "I think the negotiations should be more transparent," said Lawrence resident Bennet Wernick, who spoke at the June 6 school board meeting about the large number of teachers hired in recent years while public-school enrollment has dropped.
Longtime Lawrence Teachers Association President Steve Clements declined to comment on the upcoming negotiations.
The expired five-year contract, which was approved by the school board in May 2000, contained a 12.6 percent salary increase over the length of the contract, a new 28th step on the salary scale for teachers with the longest tenure, and retirement incentives.
Teachers advance on a step scale that includes more pay based on their experience, and earn more for academic credits and advanced degrees.
Under the expired agreement, retiring teachers received $30,000 bonuses and were able to cash in their unused sick days. At the time the contract was ratified, some opponents argued that the buy-outs could be as high as $76,000 for retiring teachers.
The 2000 negotiations grew heated when Clements accused some trustees of trying to "create an image of Lawrence teachers as greedy and malicious in the public's mind," and lashed out at Trustee Dr. David Sussman, who was then the school board president, over remarks he made about teachers being paid too much.
Since those negotiations, District 15 has faced three consecutive years of rejected budgets. This will not affect the schedule for contract negotiations.
Lawrence Superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons responded to Cedarhurst resident Abel Feldhamer's concern about teacher salaries during a recent public meeting by explaining the difficult financial circumstances that the district is operating under, and that an effort is being made to limit the contracts but could take time. Fitzsimons said that the main reason why the district would not see a dramatic turnaround in the amount of money set aside for teachers is a state law allowing them to enter the next phase of their contract based on experience while negotiations go on. He also pointed to the restrictions the district is working under as a result of the state's Taylor Law, which allows faculty members with the most advanced degrees to earn the highest salaries.
Wernick said he would like to see the sick-day policy changed so retired teachers are not allowed to cash in unused sick days.
In addition to the expired teachers' contract, the Lawrence Secretaries Association, which represents about 60 district secretaries, and the Lawrence Facilities Management Association, made up of head custodians, have been working without contracts for three years, with negotiations ongoing in an effort to reach settlements, according to school board President Kathy Raquet.
Cedarhurst resident Syd Mandelbaum, a former Lawrence school board member who voted against every teacher contract with the exception of the most recent one, in 2000, said that as a taxpayer, he feels the younger teachers deserve increases, and the teachers should balance them with more give-backs in their benefits.
"I would like to see an increase, but it has to be tempered with give-backs," said Mandelbaum. "I'm hoping for a fair settlement."
Some residents spoke out about the current teachers' contracts at a recent Lawrence Association meeting while Raquet was speaking about the district's proposed budget. She said the board has worked hard recently to negotiate fair contracts for the Lawrence Administrators Association and Local 237, where employees contribute more to their health and retirement benefits, and the district hopes to do the same with the upcoming teachers' contract. "We're hoping to come to a settlement that will work well for the community," Raquet said last week in a phone interview. "It's the very beginning of the process."
After its members worked without a contract for more than two years, Local 237's new contract was approved by the Lawrence school board on Nov. 3, 2004. The vote was 6-0, with Trustee Frank Parise abstaining. The plan is retroactive to July 1, 2002, and expires on July 1, 2006. It calls for different steps for salary increases, and will wind up as a 3 3/4 percent increase by the time it expires. The union, which comprises custodians, teacher aides and bus monitors, also compromised with the board, agreeing to increase its contributions for health insurance from 16 percent to 18 percent by 2006.
The new Local 237 contract comes nearly 10 months after the board approved a new contract with the Association of Lawrence Administrators, which represents about 25 district employees, including principals, assistant principals, curriculum directors and district supervisors. The ALA settled its contract in January 2004, after 18 months of negotiations under the collective bargaining agreement, including a "merit pay" stipulation that accounts for $25,000 to $35,000 more per year.
Some of the changes in the new collective bargaining agreement include a retroactive 3.5 percent increase for 2002-03, a 3.25 percent increase for the second and third years of the contract and a 3 percent increase in the fourth year.
Woodmere resident Josh Justic said in a phone interview that the board should consider hiring new teachers as a way of holding the line on high salaries and benefits.
"If you look at [Lawrence] and compare it to other districts on Long Island, their salaries are grossly inflated," said Justic. "I think a new contract should be negotiated that is more advantageous to the community."
Justic also said that he feels the district's test results are not good enough to justify the salaries Lawrence teachers receive. "If these kids are doing this poorly, why should the teachers continue to get paid these high salaries?" he said. "It's not fair to the students. They are the ones being shortchanged."
According to Raquet, the school board recently met with newly elected trustees Stanley Kopilow and Murray Forman to get them up to speed on the issues surrounding the contracts and the upcoming negotiations for the new contract.
Sussman, who voted against the teachers' contract in 2000 but supported the one that was approved five years earlier, has often stated that he feels that Lawrence teacher salaries are too high compared with other districts, where test scores are higher. Sussman repeated his opinion often during the 2004 school board "Meet the Candidates Night," when he was running against Penny Schuster for re-election, stating that Lawrence offers between $3,500 and $5,000 more per step compared with the neighboring South Shore school districts of Hewlett-Woodmere, Lynbrook, Valley Stream and Oceanside. Sussman said after the May 3, 2004, forum that for the next teachers' contract he would propose an incentive, or merit pay, program, in which teachers get increases based on improved student performance.
Following the July 5 reorganization meeting, after press time, the next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 8 p.m.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
