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‘Proposed N.J. bill requires savings from wage freezes to be used to prevent teacher layoffs’...............‘Christie pushes to limit raises’............... ‘N.J. school districts provide resources for thousands of teachers facing layoffs’
‘Proposed N.J. bill requires savings from wage freezes to be used to prevent teacher layoffs’ ByClaire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau June 3 2010
Picture - Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), seen here at a Statehouse press conference in November, supports a bill that would mandate school districts whose teachers accept wage freezes use the savings to prevent layoffs.
TRENTON — School districts where teachers agree to wage freezes or other concessions would be required to use all of the savings to prevent layoffs under a bill to be considered in the Legislature today.
Supporters said the measure would remove a major roadblock for local teachers unions that had been wary of considering givebacks sought by the governor and school boards because there was no guarantee it would save colleagues’ jobs.
"That’s a very fair trade," said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). He said he backs the legislation — sponsored by Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) — that is slated for a committee hearing today.
Previous coverage:
• N.J. teachers unions in 17 of 590 districts agree to wage freezes so far
• N.J. Gov. Chris Christie calls for teachers, school workers to accept wage freeze to prevent layoffs
• Gov. Chris Christie offers more state aid to N.J. schools that freeze teacher pay
• Complete coverage of the 2010 N.J budget
The bill would not apply to agreements already reached between school boards and teachers, but it is intended to "encourage" more of them, Van Drew said.
Opponents include the New Jersey School Boards Association, which says the bill intrudes on local districts’ responsibility to "allocate money saved through wage concessions for any purpose that would serve the interests of students and taxpayers."
Spokesman Frank Belluscio said the legislation is "unnecessary" because districts where contracts have been reopened have already moved to restore jobs "to the extent possible."
Republican Gov. Chris Christie has been pushing for teachers to take a one-year wage freeze and contribute at least 1.5 percent of their salaries toward health benefits to help ease the pain of his proposed $820 million in school aid cuts.
The reductions have led to teacher layoff notices, as well as cuts to student programs, in districts around the state. As of last month, teachers in just 33 of the state’s approximately 600 districts had taken Christie up on his call to cut or freeze their pay, according to the state.
Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, said the union supports the bill but stopped short of predicting more local affiliates would consider wage freezes as a result.
"It remains a local prerogative, but certainly this issue is something that has caused a lot of concern," he said. "If the deal is negotiate concessions in order to save jobs, districts ought to be willing to live up to their word."
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak declined to take a firm position on the proposal but said it is "in the same spirit" of the governor’s push for shared sacrifice.
‘Christie pushes to limit raises’
Thursday, June 3, 2010 updated: Thursday June 3, 2010, 6:01 AM BY JOHN REITMEYER STATE HOUSE BUREAU
Governor Christie wants a lid on property tax increases, but standing square in his way are the guaranteed yearly raises for police officers, firefighters and teachers.
Contract arbitrators — following the state law that gives them broad powers in union negotiations — on average doled out raises of nearly 4 percent a year statewide for police and firefighters.
Public school teachers are set to see an average increase this school year of nearly 4.5 percent statewide.
Those raises — backed by multi-year contracts — would well exceed the 2.5 percent cap Christie wants to put on property taxes unless towns and schools slashed budgets to keep the bills in check.
Christie has made contract reform a crucial part of his property tax cap package that he wants cleared by the Legislature and before the voters in November as part of a constitutional referendum.
The governor wants to force state arbitrators and mediators to consider the 2.5 percent cap when working through contract stalemates, all in an effort to cut property tax bills that have risen to $7,281 on average statewide despite an ongoing recession.
Not surprisingly, the unions that represent public employees are opposing many of the reforms that Christie has put forward. A record number — more than 30,000 — recently protested outside the State House in Trenton.
Here are some of the key facts about public employee salaries.
Teachers
New Jersey teachers are not employed by the state, but by individual local and regional school districts that serve the state's 566 municipalities. That means salary and benefits packages vary by district.
Who pays?
Teacher salaries are funded primarily through local property taxes levied by school boards, along with state education aid and other sources. Teacher salaries, on average, were scheduled to increase by 4.47 percent statewide during the 2009-10 school year, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.
How are contracts awarded?
School boards negotiate contract terms, including salaries and benefits, with the local teachers union.
What if they can't reach an agreement?
When a school board and a teachers union reach an impasse, the two sides undergo a mediation process administered by the state Public Employment Relations Commission to resolve their differences. But teachers are not allowed to strike and must work under the terms of an expired contract until a new agreement is reached.
What is Christie proposing for teacher contracts?
The governor wants to cap local governments, including school districts, from increasing the local property tax levy by more than 2.5 percent annually. He also wants to ban school contract awards that push tax increases in excess of 2.5 percent annually, including salaries, benefits and other provisions. He also wants to restore a school board's right to impose a "last best offer" on a teachers union when there's an impasse, something that was in place in New Jersey until 2003.
Police officers and firefighters
Just like teachers, police officers and firefighters are employed by the individual communities or counties in which they serve. Salary and benefits packages vary by municipality and county.
Who pays?
The salaries of police officers and firefighters in communities that maintain their own paid police and fire departments are funded primarily by local property taxes levied by the town council or committee. Property taxes levied by each of the 21 counties fund sheriff's departments and corrections officers and countywide police forces where they exist.
How are contracts awarded?
Municipal officials and unions representing the officers and firefighters who work in each community negotiate salaries and benefits packages. County freeholder boards negotiate with labor unions representing county-level law enforcement officers.
What if they can't reach an agreement?
When an impasse occurs, a government and labor union can enter binding interest arbitration administered the Public Employment Relations Commission. The arbitrator evaluates the final offers submitted by each in the context of nine factors established by state law to come up with an award. Arbitrators awarded salary increases that averaged 3.68 percent in 2009 and 2010, according to information collected by the commission.
What is Christie proposing for police and fire contracts?
The governor wants to ban arbitrators from making contract awards that exceed the 2.5 percent cap, inclusive of all salary, benefit and other provisions. He also wants to change how arbitrators are selected and add the effect a contract will have on property tax bills to the list of factors arbitrators must consider when awarding a contract.
E-mail: reitmeyer@northjersey.com
Governor Christie wants a lid on property tax increases, but standing square in his way are the guaranteed yearly raises for police officers, firefighters and teachers.
Contract arbitrators — following the state law that gives them broad powers in union negotiations — on average doled out raises of nearly 4 percent a year statewide for police and firefighters.
Public school teachers are set to see an average increase this school year of nearly 4.5 percent statewide.
Those raises — backed by multi-year contracts — would well exceed the 2.5 percent cap Christie wants to put on property taxes unless towns and schools slashed budgets to keep the bills in check.
Christie has made contract reform a crucial part of his property tax cap package that he wants cleared by the Legislature and before the voters in November as part of a constitutional referendum.
The governor wants to force state arbitrators and mediators to consider the 2.5 percent cap when working through contract stalemates, all in an effort to cut property tax bills that have risen to $7,281 on average statewide despite an ongoing recession.
Not surprisingly, the unions that represent public employees are opposing many of the reforms that Christie has put forward. A record number — more than 30,000 — recently protested outside the State House in Trenton.
Here are some of the key facts about public employee salaries.
Teachers
New Jersey teachers are not employed by the state, but by individual local and regional school districts that serve the state's 566 municipalities. That means salary and benefits packages vary by district.
Who pays?
Teacher salaries are funded primarily through local property taxes levied by school boards, along with state education aid and other sources. Teacher salaries, on average, were scheduled to increase by 4.47 percent statewide during the 2009-10 school year, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.
How are contracts awarded?
School boards negotiate contract terms, including salaries and benefits, with the local teachers union.
What if they can't reach an agreement?
When a school board and a teachers union reach an impasse, the two sides undergo a mediation process administered by the state Public Employment Relations Commission to resolve their differences. But teachers are not allowed to strike and must work under the terms of an expired contract until a new agreement is reached.
What is Christie proposing for teacher contracts?
The governor wants to cap local governments, including school districts, from increasing the local property tax levy by more than 2.5 percent annually. He also wants to ban school contract awards that push tax increases in excess of 2.5 percent annually, including salaries, benefits and other provisions. He also wants to restore a school board's right to impose a "last best offer" on a teachers union when there's an impasse, something that was in place in New Jersey until 2003.
Police officers and firefighters
Just like teachers, police officers and firefighters are employed by the individual communities or counties in which they serve. Salary and benefits packages vary by municipality and county.
Who pays?
The salaries of police officers and firefighters in communities that maintain their own paid police and fire departments are funded primarily by local property taxes levied by the town council or committee. Property taxes levied by each of the 21 counties fund sheriff's departments and corrections officers and countywide police forces where they exist.
How are contracts awarded?
Municipal officials and unions representing the officers and firefighters who work in each community negotiate salaries and benefits packages. County freeholder boards negotiate with labor unions representing county-level law enforcement officers.
What if they can't reach an agreement?
When an impasse occurs, a government and labor union can enter binding interest arbitration administered the Public Employment Relations Commission. The arbitrator evaluates the final offers submitted by each in the context of nine factors established by state law to come up with an award. Arbitrators awarded salary increases that averaged 3.68 percent in 2009 and 2010, according to information collected by the commission.
What is Christie proposing for police and fire contracts?
The governor wants to ban arbitrators from making contract awards that exceed the 2.5 percent cap, inclusive of all salary, benefit and other provisions. He also wants to change how arbitrators are selected and add the effect a contract will have on property tax bills to the list of factors arbitrators must consider when awarding a contract.
E-mail: reitmeyer@northjersey.com
‘N.J. school districts provide resources for thousands of teachers facing layoffs’By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger June 03, 2010, 5:20AM
In Hillsborough, where 42 fewer teachers may be in classrooms this fall, the teachers union and school administrators put together packets on resume-writing, job searching and unemployment filing to help laid-off staff members plan their next steps.
In Woodbridge, where about 250 employees, including at least 50 teachers, were told they may lose their jobs, the local union asked the state Labor Department’s "Rapid Response Team" to hold workshops for departing staff.
In Somerset County, the executive county school superintendent is creating a database of teacher layoffs countywide — and any openings in districts that are hiring — in the hope of making matches. But even she worries there may be few available to make.
In a year that has seen New Jersey school districts reeling from an $820 million cut in state aid and record school budget defeats, some 90 percent of districts are planning staff reductions, and 85 percent plan to cut teaching jobs, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.
Previous coverage:
• Thousands of N.J. teachers get layoff notices as school budget deadlines loom
• Bob Braun: Quality teacher recruitment could be hurt by school cuts, N.J. education leaders warn
• Poll shows N.J. residents oppose school aid cuts, teacher layoffs
• Gov. Chris Christie says school budget election results are proof that N.J. voters want change
• Majority of N.J. school budgets rejected for the first time since 1976
• The 2010 New Jersey State Budget
While the overall number of teacher layoffs is still somewhat fluid — retirements will offset some cuts, some teacher negotiations are still ongoing and additional proposed federal funding may save jobs — the New Jersey Education Association estimates thousands of teaching jobs may be lost.
In the corporate world, professional outplacement firms might be hired to help. But many school districts and teachers unions, strapped for cash and struggling to cope with unprecedented job loss numbers, are trying to provide some help themselves.
The Newark School District, which normally hosts teacher hiring fairs each spring, is instead holding "separation support sessions" for employees who are losing their jobs. As many as 757 staff members may be laid off, including up to 300 teachers, officials said.
"Change is never easy," said an invitation to the first session, held May 4, which was co-sponsored by the Newark Teachers Union and attended by 30 employees. There is no plan to hire an outplacement firm "as this would incur more expense on our already overburdened budget," district spokeswoman Valerie Merritt said.
Some 13 districts across the state have asked the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development for help with things such as informing employees about unemployment insurance benefits and health care, a department spokesman said.
Somerset County Executive County School Superintendent Trudy Doyle’s office is setting up a database to try to match laid-off teachers with job openings.
A few jobs are available — Warren Township needs an instrumental music teacher and a speech therapist, for example. But even Doyle admitted that "unfortunately, I’m sure there won’t be as many openings as there are candidates right now."
Throughout New Jersey, educators say, such large-scale prospective layoffs are uncharted territory. The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is planning workshops on resume-writing and portfolio-building, but spokesman Steve Baker said the focus until now has been on preserving jobs.
"This is brand new to everybody, to have layoffs of this magnitude. In the past, this was something you dealt with, with individual members," he said.
Hillsborough Education Association President Barbara Parker, who began teaching in 1970, said the same: "We have not dealt with this in the past."
Hillsborough Assistant Superintendent Scott Rocco is networking on behalf of staff members. He said a friend who is a Florida principal needs teachers, and Rocco reached out to a recruiter in hopes of passing on resumes.
He said the district is trying to help its staff, but there may be little available. "In a business situation, somebody who is without a job is going to look at other businesses," he said. "Here you’re going to go from one school to another, and all public schools are in the same position."
Carlye Dymburt, a Hillsborough kindergarten teacher, has been told she will be losing her job. The 28-year-old would have been eligible for tenure in September.
"I thought I was going to be going out for dinner and celebrating tenure," said Dymburt, who is certified to teach K-5. She said she loves her job at Triangle School, and spent hundreds of dollars outfitting her classroom with colorful storage baskets and posters.
"I try to stay positive every day for the kids, but I’m very upset," she said.
Her principal, Lisa Heisel, said she hates to lose her.
Dymburt is now figuring out what to do. She applied for a teaching job at a charter school, and would like to be placed in the Somerset County teaching jobs database. She is hoping for a last-minute position in Hillsborough, even a maternity leave position or half-day teaching job.
Her young students realize the situation, too.
Hailey Bianchino, 6, said children in the class began to cry when they realized their teacher would be gone from the school next year.
"She teaches really good," Hailey said. "She’s my favorite teacher in the world. She’s my first favorite teacher."
