MEET THE BAUMANN SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS
SCHOOLS
March 2, 1996
To The Editor,
I still have a lot of respect for Assistant Superintendent of Schools Mr. Mark Betz in spite of his letter published last week criticizing Mr. Phil Christes' letter of the previous week. Someone from the Board or the administration had to respond - I suppose. I don't know how the job fell to mark but I can only imagine he was thinking "its a dirty job but someone has to do it" while he was penning the letter.
He can't seriously believe, for one moment, that the primary responsibility for the contract extension belongs with the voters. Are the voters going to get a crack at ratifying the next contract? I doubt it. Are we going to have a taxpayer representative on the negotiating team? I doubt that as well. The average resident voting in the spring of 1994 was keenly aware of the "give back" but I have to wonder how many were aware of the two year extension and its financial ramifications. I can clearly recall from that spring t94 Board meeting the then Board president Wayne Engel in response to criticism of the extension saying that the Board will not take public comments on contract negotiations. No, Mark, this contract was then and still is the full responsibility of the Board of Education. I would hope they have the backbone to accept that responsibility.
Mr. Betz comments that Mr. Christe "failed to note" that for the first time in the history of Bedford Central, the extension limits salary increases for teachers to close to CPI or median in the area. The increase for 196 - t97 will be 3.5% which is considerably higher than the CPI. For this concession we gave up the right to negotiate a new contract beginning in '96 - 97. It is interesting what the administration "fails to note". If we had not extended the contract and had been as successful as the average district in the area in recently settled contracts the 196 - 197 increase would be 1.9% (source N. Westchester BOCES). May I point out that that is below the CP1. By the way the median salary in these twenty four districts is 13% lower than our 1995 median salary of $71,503. We also gave up the right to negotiate other areas such as medical contributions, the ability to reform step increases, sports & club stipends, career differentials, course credit increments, etc. etc. etc..
The one time "Give back" agreed to by the Board and the union (the % of the give back was added back the next year over what it might have been, if we had the ability to renegotiate, will be built into the salary schedule forever. Truly a gift that keeps on giving. This was clearly a financial mistake. it would be refreshing for a change if rather than attacking legitimate criticism the Board acknowledges it as being correct. This would go a long way in restoring credibility of the Board in the eyes of district taxpayers.
Richard Hallinan
1 Peters Lane
Bedford, New York 10506
(914) 234-9089