Pasco agrees to postpone step increases

With just one day to go before their step increases took effect, Pasco's teachers and school-related employees agreed to delay the annual raises by at least a month.

The deal to hold off on the payments and suspend talks about them until July 31 came in a 30-minute special negotiating session. It sounded an awful lot like what the United School Employees of Pasco had proposed last week, but the district rejected.

This time around, though, the district's representatives asked for the agreement.

They said the district - which has called for freezing the steps - does not want to have the pay increases considered separately from all the other financial considerations including health insurance that play a role in the final compensation package.

"We just need time and information," employee relations director Terry Rhum told the Gradebook during a break.

USEP president Lynne Webb agreed during the session and again afterward. "We're just saying let's take one month and look at some facts and figures and then let's talk about it," Webb told the Gradebook. "I was glad after more dialog maybe they realized there was a middle ground and they sought a way to get to it."

Negotiations are set to resume next week.

Comments

[Public Ed]

Will the District be forthcoming with the budget inforamtion in their possession and provide it to USEP, or will they continue to stonewall and obfuscate as is their past (and one might say current) practice?

[terminator]

7:30
what's wrong with these guys up there?

you let these douchbags off the hook and you're going to go back to the table to re-negotiate an already existing agreement?

is this woman Webb stupid or something?

the times said something about getting more financial information?

newsflash braniacs: districts just got hit with a two percent holdback, sales tax figures continue to slip (down $90 million for May). They won't be coming back to the table with a rosier prognostication.

better follow our lead. we're going to bring the district to a standstill through obstructionism before we sacrifice anything that's already agreed upon.

Dear termie,

Maybe you have actually heard about the collective bargaining law in Florida, but it is not as though the policy board can possibly approve a budget that fails to balance. As such, they could declare a financial emergency and the previously negotiated agreements would disappear. If your boyfriend Marco had put a little money into public education while he had time to increase a key voucher program by over 35%, the situation could have been better in Pasco and every other district in the state.

[terminator]

12:17
the dirtly little secret the districts don't want people to know is if they declare financial urgency it will ruin their bond ratings and crebibility with contractors and sub-contractors, make them look like the total douchbags to the public and invite much closer scrutiny by the legislators in Tally (which is the last thing in the world they want).

No, it was your boyfriend Chuck Crist and his bunch of suckers in the Senate (Pruitt, Geller, Webster and Hari) that all promised to "hold education harmless".

I tell em....make our day guys!

Financial urgency isn't the panacea the bloated districts and their buddies like Wayne Blanton at FSBA think it is.

I have a letter signed by Charlie, Marco and Ken which was used (by Marco) to bait and switch the start of the Special Session on property tax cuts that promises to hold education harmless. If you need, I can read it for you.

Financial urgency is exactly what the law says it is. It is a way to allow multi-year contracts without commiting the legislature to any level of funding. These contracts are negotiated in good faith. But, I don't think that any management or union negotiators really thought that Marco, Kenny and Charlie would produce the worst public education budget in the modern history of the state when these contracts were negotiated one or two years ago. As such, the money isn't there. Either the union sees that and moves forward with management or the school board has to take care to balance the budget that the Legislature (read Marco Rubio) provided.

[terminator]

well I'm glad you're finally admitting your buddies Chuck Crist and Ken Pruitt played a role in that whole "hold harmless" charade.
yes I'm well aware of Florida's collective bargaining laws, I'm a union rep.
My point being, some districts are more financially prudent than others.
We will not allow districts to abrogate their agreed upon existing contracts by filing financial emergency.
Those districts that oppose will be brought to their knees.
No justice, no peace!

We will hold their feet to the fire.

You don't get a choice if districts declare a financial emergency. The contracts are gone.

The people you need to be holding accountabile are the legislators.

The fact that you work for the union doesn't mean that you actually know anything. I haven't seen anything on the boards to suggest that you do.

Finally, I would love for you to offer a prediction or two. My favorite is still the one where Rubio will walk away from the property tax special session because he didn't like the Senate offer. Can you give us a new laugh? That one is about 9 months old now.

[terminator]

11:29
are you still living off that? that was like from a year ago.
you know, I know a lot more than you do.
the districts don't want to declare financial urgency and you know it. It's just a ruse. Unfortunately, Pasco's union (which doesn't have the brightest bunch of bulbs in their leadership chandelier) fell for it. We're not that stupid down here.

I think that's what p*sses your shorts!
You just got b slapped by the terminator!
now drop and give me twenty!

[cut3rdfloorfirst]

Termie must be in Manatee then, where the union did not even show up to negotiations.....stonewalling for sure....yes maybe Lynn Webb needs to do a bit more arm twisting....but when there are no $$$ from the state, there are no $$$ coming in, financial emergency or not... some compromise has to be found and not at the expense of the classroom/school based personnel.

We are hoping that Ms. Webb turns the arms of the 3rd floor where the 6 figure incomes are being made....

Start cutting the 3rd floor administrators, and the multitude of secretaries who do ziltch....oh and don't leave out the maintenance dept. where HF has buddies.

[terminator]

no termie's further south than that but that's a good tack to take (not showing up).
f em. let em file for financial emergency. they're going to screw themselves then we can start carving them up in pieces.
you are right, fatcat do nothing administrators need to go!

[Joe]

Termie,

You are after the wrong people. You didn't shoot the messenger, but rather the recipients of the message (Supts and boards).

Why don't you focus your attack on the people sending the message? That would be the Legis and Crist. They are the ones who promised that Amend 1 would not hurt education and then cut our budget by $20 mill. Had they not done that, then the teachers would have received their "step" and we can move on to another topic.

Now, you drop and give me 20 for stupidity.

Joe,

You are absolutely right. The Legislature and Crist are jointly responsible for the budget situation being faced by districts, and termie is an idiot.

In addition, it is the teacher's union that begs . . . BEGS . . . BEGS!!! in each district that a financial urgency not be declared, and if moves are made to declare a financial emergency they use legal means to claim that it was improperly declared. Termie's rants seem more and more delusional. I hope he gets back on his meds soon.

I can assure Termie that I have very little respect for Charlie or Ken, but he will need to remove his head from Marco's rear to even read this. Where is your "admission" that Marco promised to hold schools harmless but he lied?! Do you need to read the letter again (probably not because you remember the exact one that I am writing about)?

[pascohaspoliticosinoffice]

to 1:09
Since when does anyone with half a brain believe anything politicians say?

They are no better than used car salesman saying to you that there's another guy waiting to buy the car you're looking at.

....and that includes Pasco's supt who is elected by the way, and is also a politician in superintendent's clothing.....worried about her own skin come Nov.

So don't believe all that you hear from either the Board or supt in some counties because since they are elected they sing the "politico" tune , but they are the closest ones to the local taxpayer and so they have to take the brunt of our rants due to their ELECTED POSITIONS.....

So yes they too are responsible in addition to the legislature, but are not innocent by any means, so admit it already...

Termie at least has the guts to admit there is waste in district offices, because like many of us, we see it first hand, (like garage door inspections from maintenance dpts. that take 4 hours to do when it is a 30 minute job) and realize that the fat cats finally have their feet to the fire, so the ire is directed at precisely the correct persons, the DISTRICT FAT CATS!

Unfortunately the district fat cats are using the classroom/school base to cry about budget cuts when it is they who have been misusing funds all along.

[Joe]

Remember, Pasco's supt encouraged people to vote NO on Amend 1. So don't go accusing here of being a Crist follower.

[patcon]

Actually HF did not take a public position either way on Amendment 1. She had the district staff prepare a DVD for presentation to school staff on the impact of Amendment 1.(preaching to the choir at what cost?) It was this DVD that was protested as illegal electioneering (found baseless by a judge) by local realtors.
HF was very careful about maintaining her neutrality on Amendment 1. Speaking out in favor of it would have made her seem to be an enemy of education, not a good position for a Superintendent of Education. Speaking out against it would have put her in opposition to the very people who put her in office, not a good position for a Superintendent seeking reelection.

[HFgruntsabound]

Exactly the point...HF is a politico so she takes a neutral stance on AMD 1......typical Crist-like maneuver....

Joe,
so how much are you getting paid to be her grunt?

[terminator]

well at least 1:33 has some sense.

Joe, 1:02 and 1:09 don't seem to get the message.

I would welcome a financial urgency in our district. Go ahead and make our day.
We will burn the sucker down to the ground!

If you want to include Marco, go ahead but it was more Charlie and his buddy Pruitt who were selling the snake oil known as A1, not Marco who was opposed to it.

Pasco, where is your self respect? Forget your piddly little $500 dollar raises. We can finally destroy the district bureaucracies who have strangled our education system. We will rebuild from the ground up without the bureaucrats clogging things up.

Have some discipline here guys!

[Joe]

No, I am not a HF grunt. It is simple: if the Legis and Crist did not cut $20 mill from the district's budget, we would be getting our step.

[Teacher]

FYI, the video may not have said specifically to vote NO on Amend 1, but in otherwords, it did say vote NO on Amend 1.

[cutthefatcats]

Joe, are you so much in lala land that you have no clue about what goes on right in front of your nose?

Where in corporate American can a 5 hour a day employee get 100% medical/dental benefits?

Well the 5 hour Food sc.and custodial staff in Pasco do.....

Wake up call...that costs money.....
so why should the full time employee bear the brunt? Again there is mismanagement of money!

Why do district personnel need 30 secretaries to do a job that 15 secretaries do?

Because HF "loves her secretaries"....but more of them cost money...

Another wake up call....why does it take 4 hours to do a 30 minute job
and we can see them take 3 1/2 hour breaks, smoking on non-smoking campuses?...yes some of us do see the waste and realize the cuts need to start at the top....

So, Joe please direct your ire to the HF continency and stop blaming the legis. for the whole mess.....you got suckered....but then again that's what HF is hoping since teachers as a profession aren't the sharpest tools in the shed....I know I work with them too.

And the only reason Joe and others direct their ire to Tallahassee is because they are being "groomed" to go to the 3rd floor, so they are pledging the propaganda of the HF party mantra....it's Crist,Rubio et.al that have done this to us.

However, there are still some of us with integrity and don't bend our a** in submission just to move up the edu ladder, and are also not union reps like Termie either.

Wake up call...mismanagement of people and $$ from District level should come first and that's what Ms. Webb is trying to point out.....the top is still being wasteful and it's time to put their feet to the fire rather than have the classroom/school base take the brunt.....

Do you think for one instant that the higher ups will forgo any raises?
Not likely.. they will give themselves some incentive, don't be fooled.

How about the school board's part time jobs earning them full time 33K per year?.....again mismanagement of $$$,
and Cathi Martin hasn't even shown up and still gets a pay check.

Surely, Joe you must see all of this.

We need some MBA's up at the 3rd floor so they can show HF how to cut the fat from the fat cats.

[terminator]

cutthefatcats:
I fully agree but don't forget your union reps are working for you too!

[Public Ed]

Let's not forget that HF was part of the problem at the State Legislature for 8 years! Pasco funding fell in ranking from the mid 30's to the mid 50's under her reign. And she was double dipping too!

If you ask our current Reps and Sens they will tell you that the legislature has increased funding for education by 43% over the last eight years!

So, Yes, cut all of the fat cats!!!

[Joe]

NOT

Teachers work more than 5 hours a day so get your head out of you a** and keep bending over b/c you are the one taking it up.....

[cutthefatcats]

Joe,
If you are a teacher please read....I said SRP's (FNS and custodial) work 5 hours a day and get 100% medical benefits...which is a waste of money....I know because my two friends are FNS manager,& plant mgr.
So please take YOUR head out of YOUR backside so your eyes can read the comment better.

If some SRP's work 5 out of 8 hours (62.5%) then that should be the amount of health coverage they should be eligible for....

But no, the full time teacher (8 hrs) who is paying for their family is also paying indirectly (actuarily) for the 5 hour employee....

(actuaries...insurance guru's spread the risk to others)

I have to give you a definition just in case you graduated from PODUNK U and your parchment didn't give you a chance to study some vocabulary....

You and your ignorant kind are what HF hopes to have in her camp.

[cutthefatcats]

Only some SRP's are 5 hours. Some are 6 and others are full time. All teachers are full time.

Thank you Public Ed. HF did do other damage in Tallie while she was a rep.
So anger is justified her way both at local level and the previous damage done to our system.

Hope the taxpayer sees it in November and votes her out.

[GG]

Joe- I am a Pasco Co. SRP. We also work in the office, the classrooms and media centers. We all work 7.5 hours per day in these positions. We have 8 weeks off in the summer that we do not get paid for. It took me 8 years to get a salary of $18,000 not counting the 5 years experience I had in a northern school doing the same work. When I moved here I took a pay cut from $9.00/hr to $5.50/ hr even though I had 5 years prior experience. We are underpaid. I am sure anyone out there who has to work with 2,500 students and 300 staff members every day would expect to be paid more than $18,000 a year. We need our step increases at least, if they can't give us a raise.
Your friends are probably part timers - they are the ones who only put in 5-6 hrs/day,