The Burlington School Board’s decision last week to impose terms of pay and benefits on the teachers’ union has not ended a labor dispute that persists despite a year of negotiations.
The union has assailed the move as unfair and said it would breed “chaos” — perhaps making a not-so-veiled reference to the union’s right to strike.
Burlington Education Association president Fran Brock urged the board this week to come back to the table. “There is only one way to come back from the brink, and that is for the board to rescind the imposition and reach an agreement with us,” Brock said in a prepared statement.
It’s unusual for a Vermont school board to impose working conditions. It’s happened only about 20 times since 1969, according to the Vermont-NEA, which represents thousands of teachers in the state.
Strikes are also uncommon, said Darren Allen, communications director for the Vermont-NEA , adding that he hopes the BEA and Burlington school board will settle.
The Burlington union has not announced a strike vote, in which members would weigh the decision to strike. Informational pickets are planned, according to teachers.
School board attorney Joe McNeil vows to vigorously defend the district from a grievance that the teachers’ union filed September 14, the day before the board voted to impose a pay and benefits policy for the current school year.
The employment policy gives teachers a 2.75 percent raise and an average salary increase of $1,900 for the year. The Burlington Education Association had most recently called for a 3.25 percent increase.
The union filed the grievance to support its contention that the board promised to keep teacher pay in “the middle of the middle” of comparable teacher pay in Chittenden County back in 2013 and that the board must keep that promise going forward.
The board has maintained that the language in the union’s most recent contract, a three-year pact that expired August 31, should not dictate the terms of any new agreement. The language was deleted in the employment policy that the board imposed last week.
The board said in a statement that it was committed to keeping the total compensation package for teachers “regionally competitive” but would not accept language that “automatically ties the salaries of Burlington teachers to salaries negotiated in surrounding towns.”
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According to an article in VT Digger on 2.12.16 the average salary for a teacher in Burlington is “$71,624. With benefits, the average compensation package is worth about $100,000” . $100,000 in compensation and they only work 9 months out of the year when you add up all their vacation time and summer break!! Give ME a break. They are not there “for the kids” as they so often like to tell us. They are there for the money and this recent contract request underscores that reality.
Surely anyone with such a cynical view of teaching and teachers has never stood in that proverbial batter’s box. I will never forget the expression on a parent’s face after a day-one day, mind you- of shadowing me .She, too, thought teachers were coasting their way to a summer of chilling on the Riviera . I told her to tell her friends what she saw and experienced on that day. I guess the previous commenter doesn’t know her.
I agree with the previous post. With the economy the way it is here, most people would love to have the average Burl. teacher’s salary, time off, very low payments for medical benefits and accumulated sick and personal time that they receive in pay when they leave. Teachers really need to be more in touch with taxpayers’ concerns about the high cost of living in Burlington and the constant tax increases, mostly due to the teacher’s demands!
Maybe this is the new math but if you look at the statistics on the wages and benefits for teachers in Burlington compared to the other schools in Chittenden County, it does look like the recent comments about the teachers falling in the third, fourth, fifth positions among the 9 school districts. That certainly is middle of the middle, but then I went to school in the old days with old math.
We can always pay the good folks in the prison work profession more… because they’re gonna need it! The less we invest in education the more we’re gonna pay for incarceration. Teachers in the trenches who are supporting kids with active complex trauma, who are being spit on, hit, kicked, urinated on, cleaning smeared feces off themselves and the wall, etc. definitely don’t deserve to be paid well! Who do they think they are?! Plus – There’s only 500 new refugee families coming in to Burlington this year (which by definition includes children with trauma). I’m sure they’ll sit in class like perfect little angels!
You’re right Marianne… also – those Sandy Hook teachers should’ve been paid less too… THEY are arrogant
Unfortunately this is the way it is in schools today. I’m sorry you and others in the community are so disconnected. Residential facilities and alternative schools have waiting lists so schools are often doing their best to keep kids with trauma, who are not available for learning, comfortable and safe. There are already School Psychologists on this teacher contract in all of the schools in Burlington.
I am seeing ‘support teacher’ signs all over town. How about for a nice change of pace, teachers support the struggling taxpayers who are living in their communities?
How about it teachers, could you please instruct your union that we can no longer afford to keep showering you with benefits like almost free health care premiums, multiple months of vacation, sick days, more holidays than I knew existed, and constantly increasing salaries. If you aren’t satisfied being a teacher with all these benefits along with your $70,000 annual pay, I suggest you find another line of work.
Do some research, Penelope. Your numbers are exactly right. The average salary is no where near $70K. Perhaps you should find another line of work if your taxes are too oppressive.
Go look at the teacher contract, page 61.
http://www.nctq.org/docs/Teachers_-_Burlin…
Teachers do not earn $70K until year 12 of service with a master degree and they top out at $83K. There is no way the average teacher salary can be $73K, especially when you consider teachers start at $45K. The math just simply does not work.
The writer might have added the 3.25% the teachers asked for in salary increase was the amount found by the independent fact-finder. Just try to imagine what the Board would have said if it were the teachers who demanded more than the fact-finder found. They would have castigated the teachers for over-reaching. What amazes me is the lack of reporting on what the Board did in addition to undercutting the fact-finder’s number. It unilaterally increased the teachers’ contribution to health insurance, and unilaterally reduced the amount of education benefits available to the union. The Board, in other words, took the opportunity to win on all issues with the imposed contract. Such a slap in the face to the teachers may be the reason they asked to come back to the bargaining table. I’m with the teachers on this one.
After the all of the money spent on the superintendent, the school board has the gall to try to stick it to the teachers. Teaching should be a well-paid profession and a good use of tax dollars. Tax breaks to some guy to build a giant mall is not.