by Frank Schroth
MPS teachers at School Committee meeting
The unprecedented presence of an estimated 250 Milton school teachers at last night’s School Committee meeting made a strong statement regarding their displeasure and concern over the status of contract negotiations with the committee and administration. Margaret Gibbons, President of the Milton Educators Association (MEA), said the teachers have been working without a contract since last March. She noted that despite the failure of “100 hours” of discussion and 14 negotiating to produce a successful result, the teachers “continue to do the hard work of educating students.”
The teachers, all members of the MEA, appeared during the Citizens Speak portion of the meeting, which was held in the Winchester Auditorium to accommodate the large number.
Margaret Gibbons, President of MEA
The contract specifics were not provided, but from the comments made it sounds as if there has been little if any salary adjustment proposed. Ms. Gibbons, the first of seven speakers said, “We cannot agree to a lower dollar amount. . . we are asked to do more, and do more, and do more.” She alluded to past concessions that had been made and said the teachers are “proud to work here.” She punctuated her remarks with, “This is who we are,” and closed saying that, “Investing in Milton should begin with investing in Milton’s teachers . . . It is the teachers who instill confidence, reach and risk [in the students] . . . . It is time to settle this contract.” She received a standing ovation and thunderous applause as did the speakers who followed. Here are some of the comments they made:
Why are we here? Why is it November and we don’t have a contract? Something is not right . . . you need to take a long hard look at what is going on . . . [this is] not a restructuring but a reduction. . . we deserve better . . . a fair, across the board salary increase.
— April Allegrezza, Music, Elementary schools
Do you know we donate more to the MFE than you are offering us? [We] gave back 5% of our health insurance. . . [we] opened our contacts and gave back some of our salary. Who does that? We do! (Reading an email from a past student who is now pursuing a doctorate in history) “That’s teacher inspiration . . . that’s not 0%, that’s 100%”
— Owen McElhinney, History, Pierce
It worries me . . . that we are at an impasse . . . something we have not experienced in the last twenty years.
— Mary Shapiro
Milton teachers like each other . . . we work with others enthusiastically . . . [we possess] an intense sense of pride . . . we have the 10th strongest AP program in the state . . . these teachers deserve a fair contract because we work too hard to work without one.
— Nick Fitzgerald, English, MHS
At the conclusion of the remarks, members from each school rose to read a petition asking that the committee and administration “negotiate a contract that acknowledges and rewards the contributions we [the teachers] have made” and expressed complete support for their bargaining team. They also read the signatures.
Lynda-Lee Sheridan, Chair of the School Committee, noted that the committee’s policy is not to respond to comments made during Citizen Speak. She thanked them for coming. The committee then reconvened in the MHS library to discuss the remaining issues on their agenda.
Our teachers are terrific and absolutely deserved to be paid fairly. I think it would be helpful to get some comparative data and analysis as to pay in Milton vis a vis other communities. That certainly seems warranted before anyone in knee jerk fashion supports or opposes one side or the other.
Frank — If you or some of your readers want to get us some actual facts and data on these points, we could all have a much more fruitful discussion. What do we pay? What do other towns pay? Are we competitive as a whole and in various subsets of positions such as experience or subject matter? What have been the historic rates of actual increases, including steps and lanes? How do these compare to private sector data?
To me, this is not personal. I like our teachers a whole lot and commend the work they do day in/day out. They are an exceptional group. So are the members of the administration and School Committee that are trying to get to a fair result, while preserving very limited town dollars. I assume that we will get to a fair and equitable result but believe that we all would be well-served to have more information and facts.
Tony, those are natural questions to ask and the post does exist in something of a vacuum. I will look into comparative historical data. However, with regard the current discussions on a new contract, those discussions have been done in executive session, and inquiries have been met with “No comment.”
I’m not opposed to paying teacher more. However, they need to make concession in other areas. For example, they could receive their health insurance from the state exchange. I bet that would free up money to pay for part of the salary increase they are asking for.
Almost 2 years ago, all town employees, including the teachers, accepted changes to the town’s health insurance plan that included changes in copays and an increase of 5% in the share of premiums paid by employees. The result was a savings to the town of approximately $1.2 million annually.
This was clearly described in the 2011 Town Warrant and discussed at the Annual Town Meeting. A Town Meeting Member should be aware of this. How else can he or she provide proper information to their constituents should they ask?
The negociating positions of Teachers & School Comm. are confidential, as they should be. Suggestions that teacher salery surveys be conducted is something that I am sure has already been done by both sides, that and the Towns ability to pay are the main factors in contract negociations and settlements. What is important is for the School Department and Town side departments (Police, Fire & DPW) to develope a Town wide strategy on potential contract wage increases. We have seen recently in Boston as the Police Union and Firefighters have gone to arbitration and recieved large, retroactive pay increases as they try to “catch up” with each other. Milton Town employees are paid fairly and in line with communities we historically compare ourselves with, in my opinion. Milton Town employees also deserve resonable pay increases and a little give and take on issues like health insurance co-pays. I believe this has been the case for many years,with “trust” and “fairness” being the key points. I am confident the BoS has a negotiating stategy to treat all Town side employees fairly and I would hope the School side is on the same page. Let the process play out and our great teachers will have a fair contract the Town can afford and other Town Unions will get equal consideration. This teachers contract will undoubtably be on the table when Firefighters, Police & DPW negociate their contracts.
As we talk about teacher salaries, it seems all the comparative data measures Milton salaries against the State average. While this is helpful, it might make better sense to compare Milton salaries against other ” peer ” communities. Comparing Milton with Cities, Boston, Cambridge, Newton et al, is not as important to me as how we match up with Canton, Hingham, Scituate, Westwood etc..
We then can compare other data points , MCAS scores, class size, SAT ‘s etc. against this same group to see how we compare.
I would leave it up to the School Committee to choose the peer group, maybe 10-12 comparable s.
Just a thought
Anyone remember this:
“Milton teachers reject Race to the Top”
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/milton/2010/08/milton_teachers_reject_race_to.html