Hillsborough teachers, employees settle negotiations

Hillsborough teachers and blue collar employees mostly can look forward to two percent raises after salary negotiations settled Friday.

The leaders of both major unions, the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association and the Hillsborough School Employees Federation, said they were pleased to see even modest increases after school budgets were slashed statewide this year.

Teachers also secured an early release day for students once a month to be used for planning. Read more details about the settlement in an email from the teachers union here: Download teachercontract.doc

The terms still need to be ratified. Raises will be applied retroactively to the beginning of the year.

Comments

12:42,

Couldn't have said it better - why don't teachers in Pasco get that revenue/Legislature/hands are tied concept????

Can someone say educator RAGE!! I mean really this is hilarious I am just falling out of my chair I mean thank you Mr. Perry,and to Mr. Or Mrs. who knows who? you guys have made this big load! of you know what! a little bit easier to swallow.

We tear each other apart while the people that are destroying the public schools (the Legisaltors) laugh. A tremendous amount of legislative leadership has come from this area over the past six years, but there isn't any plan to meet the needs of Florida's school children for the next decade and beyond. Ask Weatherford what he is going to do about it! Ask Fasano what he thinks! Tear up your union, district staff, superintendent and school board, but none of those people can control their revenues. The Legislature can control revenues, but they have only one answer to every problem. Cut taxes! How is that working by the way?

[HCTA Member]

Mr. Perry, I have used my name many many times in the past. I'm just tired of it all. How dare you question my honesty. I have been a CTA member for years. I have been to CTA meetings and watched as our "leadership" side-steps members questions. Too bad I believe in the concept of unions too much to quit. Our union is a sham, but we are still better off with it than without it.

[Anony-na-na]

Since everyone else is getting in on these anonymous attacks on that awful person who has the nerve to use his own name, I thought I’d go ahead and join in.

Escrow is an evil school district plot to steal your money and make interest on it. They are using the interest to make secret payoffs to CTA board members to get them to “roll over” on teachers. CTA is in bed with the district. They are rolling over. In bed. And if you disagree, you are “naïve,” have ceded the “moral high ground,” are mean to your students, and are “padding your resume.” For shame!

If, while other districts enforce layoffs, pay cuts, or freeze wages, Hillsborough teachers get a 2% raise, well, that is an outrage! The district is “screwing” us! In a year like this, when the state has cut budgets by many millions of dollars, it is obvious- obvious, I say!- that there is plenty of money to go around, and if you think otherwise, you are an embarrassing “mid-echelon CTA stooge!”

So there! Nyah, nyah, nyah. Nanny-nanny boo-boo.

Hey, this anonymous stuff is fun! Yee-haw!

[John Perry]

And there you have it folks: the language and attitude of anonymous people making nonsense statements.

[TJt]

And there you have it folks: the language and the attitude of mid-echelon CTA stooges to honest questions and misunderstandings by membership.

[John Perry]

HCTA Member (if you really are one), you can't talk about being embarrassed by anyone when you make comments anonymously. I'll consider taking you and the rest seriously when I see YOU signing your name.

By the way, Bobo, very appropriate choice of pseudonym.

[John Perry]

Such an appropriately chosen name, Bobo. You and the rest are so brave, spouting off anonymously. When you sign your names, I'll think about taking you seriously.

Oh, and HCTA Member (if you really are one), they were ready for impasse if we didn't get at least a step. We got the step. Districts around Florida got nothing, got layoffs, or got pay cuts. And you are complaining that CTA settled for a step? Ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as accusing me of "padding my resume." Of course, you can afford to publicly make a fool of yourself since you don't sign your name.

[HCTA Member]

Mr. Perry you embarrass me. I am a dues paying member of HCTA and the thought that you are on our Board of Directors embarrasses me. Every time HCTA rolls over for the district, you embarrass me. Just because other school districts are screwing their teachers doesn't mean we should let ours screw us. Just because the economy isn't doing well doesn't mean that we shouldn't fight for what's right. We have the moral high ground. HCTA sent out an email telling us to prepare for "impasse". I was prepared. Now, you're proud of a 2% step increase when the rate of inflation is 4% under normal circumstances? Mr. Perry, do your job as an HCTA Board member and fight for the teachers instead of padding your resume.

[teach]

I don't think I am an idiot, Mr. Perry. I know how escrow affects me (and my family, by the way). We (two teacher family) have $800 taken out a month so I can get paid for winter holidays and spring break. When it comes to a two-teacher family, we wish the school district would allow us to opt out. I spent years taking care of my finances for those three weeks, I can keep doing it. And if you don't think the school district isn't getting interst off of this, you must be naive. I don't believe the school district is doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. That is the way I feel and, as BoBo said, I have the right to say it.

[bobo]

Wow, Mr. Perry. Is that how you correct your students? "Hey Bobby, you missed 2 + 2 = 4, you embarrass me". Relax, everyone has a right to have their say. I can see how Teach can be a little upset, though. $800 a month is a lot of money. Also, "tough negotiating on the part of CTA."---that made me laugh.

[Topped out]

They also make money by not paying us "toppers" the full 2% like everyone else.

$1000 is $232 short of 2% or only 1.6235%

It effects us when we need it most: retirement calculations.

[John]

You want to pay "extra" taxes? Cut the escrow routine that allows the system to make interest on the stored money. We used to work for 10 days and get paid for 9, now we get paid for 10 days, but collectively store one day for future payments. And the system gets a few extra dollars. If I could make enough interest on my paycheck to warrant complaining about the current escrow system, I would. However, I feel the trade-off is a resonable deal. The system can make more interest off of 10,000 (the number of teachers in Hillsborough county) day's pay than I can make off of one day's pay.

[Timmy!]

Hey Topped Out,

What about "retro pay"? I doubt the state sends that money when the district cuts the check.

Somebody tell me where the dollars that cover the "retro paychecks" comes from.

If NOT from an interest bearing account then why?

Embarrassed people need not respond.

[Topped Out]

The district giveth and the district taketh away.

The way I read it is that it is not steps plus 2% but just 2%. Those at the top of the scale get a flat $1000.00 increase. Is $1000 equal to 2%? Nope. It is $232 short of 2% or only 1.6235%

Then our Health insurance is changing, like in fewer choices and increased employee payroll contributions ($$$) for those of us who actually like more control over our health care.

If it costs us $50 a paycheck more over 20 pay periods, there goes our $1000.00. We must have rank amateurs (maybe former transportation employees) doing this at the district.

I find it revealing that a person who doesn't understand the concept of escrow and how it affects them is belittled for their display of ignorance. The district has once again failed to communicate effectively.

Please permit me:
1) escrow allows you to "appear" to get paid for holidays during the 199 day school year.
2) escrow also allows you to expect the same amount of pay for each pay period during the 199 day school year.
3) It is natural to assume that the district is making money from the escrow account since:
1: the board has constantly applauded Bookman and Saunders for their "interest earning" abilities.
2: it is unreasonable to expect anyone to suppose the state does not send the full amount to cover the ten days an employee works.

So maybe "teach" drew some faulty conclusions - it appears understandable and quite forgivable.

Mr. Perry, you "embarrass" too easily. Do you respond to your student's in this way? I hope not.

[jwt]

Gee. Why does the district want to spend all that money getting kids to and from school for 1/2 day? I know I'm just an English teacher and don't do math well..... Why aren't we just getting a whole day to do grades and plan at the end of each 9 week period like we did many years ago ?

[Tampa Teacher]

Why not just take our annual "salary" and divide it by the number of pay periods? Wouldn't that be easier than the stupid escrow scam? By the way, I put "salary" in quotes, because we are really paid by the hour, like factory workers. If you look at the district's human resources page, they list an hourly wage. When it is convenient to the district, we are salaried. When it is convenient to the district they nickel and dime us like we're hourly workers. Pretty soon, I'm going to start demanding time-and-a-half like any other factory worker paid by the hour.

[Pasco teacher]

Come to our school board meeting on Tuesday and witness the slaughter of the morale of hundreds of teachers when they DENY us any sort of step or raise. All we want is our step!

[John Perry]

Holy, moly, teach. You are WAY off base.

Steps are NOT "already set in place." They are negotiated EVERY YEAR. You don't automatically get a step. They have to be negiated year in and year out. You only got this step through tough negotiating on the part of CTA.

Also, saying your step is "eaten up" by escrow taken from your check is the most absurd thing I've ever, ever, ever heard. Ever since teachers have been paid every two weeks, pay has been reserved to even out your paychecks. If they didn't do this, you would receive tiny paychecks when you have non-paid holidays at Christmas and spring break, for example. This is not your step being "eaten up." This is your pay being equalized through the year for your own benefit.

Finally, the district gets paid tax dollars in stages. They don't have your full year's pay at the beginning of the year. Accusing the district of "taking" this money from you and making interest on it is absurd.

As a fellow teacher, your comments embarrass me. Not being aware of what's going on is one thing, but spouting off publicly as if you do know is another.

[sandra]

Please read the new contract info. They are only decreasing the "early release" day by two hours. Wow.

[teach]

I would love to have more "non-student" days to plan. My son's private school has 1 day off at the end of each 9 weeks just to take care of grades and such. However, I will take 1/2 day per month. Also, 2% raise is not what it sounds. From what I understood, we are just getting our step (which are already set in place). My step will be eaten up by the school district taking out "escrow" from my pay--and my husband's, also. Which equals about $800 a month they take from us (and probably put in an interest account).

[John]

Wow, more half days. When are you people going to start thinking like business people? If the "planning" is important enough to do, then it makes sense to me to not do it after having students for a "half day." Give the students days off at the end of 9 weeks grading periods and lose some of the beaurocratic "preplanning days."