Why are their checks smaller?

Pasco school employees have not been shy about their demand to get more money this year.

They've protested against a freeze in their pay, and requested a raise in addition to their contracted annual step increase.

So it comes as no surprise that dozens of workers inundated the district office when they noticed that their latest paychecks were a little smaller than the ones before. Their single question: Why?

The answer, it turns out, was the United School Employees of Pasco itself. Dues went up, and the district was simply collecting for the employees' bargaining agent. See CFO Olga Swinson's memo to employees, sent late Thursday, here.

*

Comments

[mybabiescomefirst]

Hey Big Al, as my attorney told me, if HF made me go to the shelter with my two infant children, when my zone was not to be evacuated, then social services would have the right to take my kids on the grounds I was endangering them..........so I do believe that is prioritizing not whining, and you should know that no mother would endanger her own cubs for the old lady who has to go to the shelter because she couldn't be in her mobile home....there are many other employees who can go and man the shelters, and do go, because they are told at their interview that it is a requirement.....administrators, plant managers, asst. plant mgrs, food service managers, asst. food service managers, etc.......
Not once during my interview as a teacher, nor in my application for certification by the state of Florida, was I told that I had hurricane duty as part of my job description.......and it isn't in the District job description either....check it out for yourself.....

Also, if it were not for big whopping mistakes like HF has made the local attorneys would not be making money......

Mr. Solochek, how about doing an analysis of her use of taxpayer money for legal issues vs. money spent for legal issues during the Weightman and Long years? Now that would be a great article.....unless you are on her payroll too.... we all know she has plenty of YES men outside the confines of the District offices

[Patrick Kent]

Hi there Big Guy. Another question for the mental giant in the blog. If I hire a plumber to fix my sink, can I order him to fix my air conditioner without paying him? Told you that you make it to easy. Good morning now!

[Patrick Kent]

Hey Big AL, don't feel to bad about yourself. It took Heather Fiorentino wasting a ton of your taxpayer money fighting that issue of capitalism and legal contracts as it pertains to the hurricane shelter issue. Scarf Girl had to waste your tax money before a ruling came down that explained this to her. At least you got your lesson for free and did not waste tons of taxpayer money because you did not have the mental capabilities to grasp such difficult concepts like Scarf Girl did. Take heart. There is one person that you can say you are not as dumb as, and that person is Heather Fiorentino. De Da De.

[Patrick Kent]

Hey Big Al, with a name like that you make it to easy. After reading that name I expect to read you saying that you are doing "Super" as you gather all of your Twinkies and pets around you on your boat. Anyway. Promised steps? Have you been under out of the county for awhile there big guy or is your IQ slightly to the left of the median average? Well for those who need their hand held as we connect the dots, this one is for you. In America we have this system called capitalism. Capitalism, Big Al please stop picking your nose and flinging your boogers across the classroom, is when two people agree to exchange goods or services for goods, services or money. Also in America we have this thing called the legal system. When two people agree to a contract to exchange goods, services or money, both parties are legally obligated (Hope that word is not to big for you Big Guy) to live up to their word. If one side breaks their promise, the other side can take them to court and sue. It is not like a promise that you make that you will lose those pesky 50 pounds in order to get yourself in to the obese category. If you break that promise you still stay Big Al and nothing happens. If you break a contract, bad things can happen in the legal system. I wonder what kind of business man you would make. I would love doing business with you because I wouldn't have to pay you for your services after you finished the job and you would not complain a bit about being stiffed because that would mean you needed diapers because complaining makes you a whiner. Big Sucker Al. Do they make Depends in that size? Secondly, hurricane shelter duty. When did anything beyond the scope of a contract between two parties, the teachers and the county, become the responsibility of either party. Hurricane shelter duty is not in the teacher's contract which means they receive no compensation for that duty from the county and thus are not held accountable for that job. There are those pesky things called capitalism and legal contracts again Big AL. Wow, I wonder if you ride the short bus to work? Simple things in our legal system that have flown over your head or between your legs. Either way, you are to slow to stay in this conversation. Sit back and eat your Ring-Dings. When you can understand simple concepts like capitalism, contracts, and the legal system, then you can stop picking your nose with your fingers and start typing. Until then, anything other than booger picking done by your fingers is a waste of everybody's time. Keep running with your poodles and stay away from the pitbulls. De Da De.

termie, termie, termie . . . chicken chicken chicken.

[publicschoolteacher]

Big Al and 10/3 4:43- You guys think being at a shelter during a hurricane helping evacuees in more important than helping your own family, then YOU GO DO IT! I, for one, won't be told how I have to spend my UNPAID time off from work. And 2republicans are right- No one ever heard anything of this magnitude from any of the previous administrations. All of this has happened on HF's watch.

[Big Al]

And you call yourselves professionals. Professional what? Whiners? You expect everything to be given to you. That's right, given to you. Oh, they promised me step increases. I might have to do something extra, like shelter duty. WAHHHH!!!! Maybe we can get someone to change your diapers for you because you are definitely full of it. You tell ( not teach) your students to respect authority and here you are doing the opposite. I am glad none of you are teaching my kids, because you have proven that education does not equal common sense or knowledge. No wonder HF isn't listening to you. She is DEAF from all the high pitch whining!!!!! If you can't keep up with the big dogs, get off the porch or out of Pasco County!!!!! Quit your sniveling!!!!

[2republicansforSteve]

Joe Q. Public , doesn't know half the dirt, under HF's tenure:

Remember : tatoo issue, excessive piercing issue, hurricane shelters being manned by all(Some were told to bring their kids with them or else be fired), capri pants & dress code issues,
$4 million LFS bought by ESE director's persuasion when CRISS program was already in district trainings and still is... etc , etc, etc.

Micromanaging us all, and wasting taxpayers' money while Joe Q. Public was not looking during the boom years, and now she's trying to play the "We have no money" card right before the election.

Pasco never had this problem during the Weightman/Long years. Never! And some of those years were quite lean...no raises, potential lay offs, but we were never treated like children.

In fact I remember, when Weightman asked US, the faculty, staff and adminis., to select one choice back in the late 80's (maybe 90's)......lay off colleagues or forgo step increases. .....the choice WE made was to forgo increases......But no choice by DICTATOR Heather Fiorentino...it's her way or the highway.

She never even used any of the savings suggestions we sent her via our school based administrators... and yes some of knew the money was in specific categories. But she has not budged from her pet projects.

This 2 Republican employee household is voting Dem. this time.

HF take your scarves and say bye bye.

I knew that terminator would disappear without responding. chicken!

[Patrick Kent]

Well that certainly explains why Mary (Mimi) Foster is contributing to Scarf Girl's campaign. Makes you wonder what kind of other skeletons are hidden in Heather Fiorentino's political campaign contributors closet?

It seems that Heather Fiorentino routinely encourages her administrative staff to have healthy romantic relationships with each other. Remember when Greg Wright was principal at Hudson and he decided to have a romantic fling with Assistant Principal Mary Owens while still being married? We all do because Greg admitted in front of the entire faculty in a public apology. What did Heather do? She didn't punish the two love birds. She gave Greg another job away from his darling Ms. Owens and she rewarded Ms. Owens with her very first principal position at Schwettman. Heather figured the best place to put Ms. Owens was with students who have the same type of trouble with judgment that Ms. Owens has. Perfect fit.

Mr. Kent,
What is it with people named "Patrick" being so negative? Don't be so hard on Mr. Davis. He needs to protect his boss. After all, a new boss might not be so understanding of the power of love and might not approve of the Assistant Superintendent for High Schools having a romantic relationship with a newly-appointed HS Assistant Principal. But is this really all that wrong? He's not her immediate supervisor, just the immediate supervisor of her immediate supervisor.

[Susie]

6:07

I was being sarcastic - of course Hf knew.

[Susie]

6:07

I was being sarcastic - of course Hf knew.

[Susie]

6:07
I was being sarcastic. Of course HF knew. I'm sure it was her idea.

[Patrick Kent]

And the choir says Amen 6:07 PM poster. Let's take an honest look at Scarf Girl. Please, everybody remove your rose colored pins and scarves from your eyes. Scarf Girl is viewed by the other Superintendents as a joke. They find her amusing and her thoughts juvenile because she does not have the academic background in education to match theirs. They speak from positions of professional credibility. Scarf Girl, not so Much. I know Dr. Janseen well from Pinellas and the general thought of the education community to our South is that we are a bunch of experimental lap dogs for the powers that be. Any new fad or gadget the legislator has to offer we will try, no matter that it is unproven. The administration cares about money and approval from Tallahassee First. Your kids are second. Don't believe me Joe Public, then do the research and you will see that I am right. I don't have a problem with the position in Pasco being an elected position, but for God's sake have some minimum requirements. If I gave you a choice between a person who couldn't be an administrator for any public school in the nation, that's you Scarf Girl, and another who could, that's Steve Donaldson, who would you choose for your child's school administration. Also if I was to tell you that one candidate served our country in the military receiving numerous decorations for his service and oversaw millions of dollars in data and personnel, Steve Donaldson, and the other didn't, Heather Fiorentino, who would you choose. Heather Fiorentino failed as a Florida Representative. Believe me, if she was seen as an asset to the party they would have tagged her for bigger and better things as she is a minority. If you don't believe me, look at Sarah Palin. Speaking of Politicians from the past, Heather reminds me more of J. Edgar Hoover than anybody else. Yes Men, Yes Men everywhere. Finding dirt (or making it up) on anybody who stands in her way. Get rid of Heather and her Yes Men who cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in salaries. One of Scar Girl's favorite Yes Men is Jim Davis. Poor Jimmy Boy couldn't pass the 3rd Grade FCAT Reading Comprehension Test because he couldn't properly define to the School board the difference between print media and other media. Jimmy, when you put words onto paper in a political advertisement in a School Football Program it is called Print. That is allowed by FHSAA as demonstrated by Mike Fassano and Heather Fiorentino in the past using political advertisements in football programs. Do you need us to spell print, give you the definition and use it in a sentence? Look into the camera Jimmy and say, "I AM NOT SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER!" It seems that the apple didn't fall to far from the tree Scarf Girl, because you fail the FCAT Reading Test as well. The union had informed their members of the 60 some odd pennies increase in bi-weekly dues over a year ago. Do you really think the public is dumb enough to buy what you are shoveling? You got bombarded with e-mails from employees questioning the 60 some odd missing pennies? Please. Prove It. De da De. Yes Men, Yes Men everywhere in Scarf Girl's totalitarian regime. The e-mail might have come from Olga, but Mein Fuhrer has final say over all outgoing messages. She told us so after her last communication embarrassment, or was that a lie? Get rid of the incompetence and the Yes Men Pasco County voters.

Susie, Everything now goes through Heather Fiorentino's office since the new Communications Director made her big mistake and related H.F.'s message verbatim, which made H.F. look bad. Hey who's in charge in the Pasco School System anyway. Remember Harry Truman, the buck stops here! Let's call it for what it is. H.F. is playing politics with her employees - Shame on her. God can only help us if she gets another term in office. H.F. do the right thing, withdraw you candidacy now. Go home and repent for the road to hell is truly paved with good intentions. It's not your fault your incompetent. A little more schooling wouldn't of hurt. Running a school system is a little more difficult than running a primary classroom isn't it. Stop ruining peoples lives and hurting students by instituting poorly thought out programs and wasting tax payers money. At the end of your regime employees will be dancing in the classrooms. Only then will we have a true rennaisance in education in Pasco County.

For the first time ever, termie has indicated support for a person who wishes to serve as a superintendent. I wonder how long it will take for him to turn into a corrupt, bloated administrator. I have asked termie at least 100 times to name one single currently serving superintendent who is actually competent and committed to the success of a district in Florida. He can't (won't) do it because he is simply to sad, incompetent and anti-leadership to actually build ANYONE up. He still can't do it. I am willing to name one "good" employee of the teachers union for every superintendent and/or high level district administator that termie is willing to support. I am sure that I won't have to work very far down my list.

termie claims to only post on the blogs during the "off hours." Either thats a lie or he needs to sue someone for ID theft. His employer should know that he spends more time on the blogs than he does defending those teachers who actually manage to do something so horribly wrong to need discipline. I think that he is lying. His employer should figure it out because it isn't like his posts supporting Marco and the House leadership are actually helping them to fight "off bad policy from Tallahassee."

[Susie]

I was blocked by the anti spam filter, too. I just considered it censorship.

Oh yeah, Olga's email seems to have been a political "dirty trick" - but I'm sure it wasn't authorized by HF.

[Philly]

All you people who Hate HF, at least she has not been reportedly convicted of TWO DUIS

[Patrick Kent]

From the well of toxic and disjointed thoughts comes this great display of logic from the muddled and confused brain of Heather Fiorentino, AKA Scarf Girl. Thought #1,453 from the What Would Scarf Girl Do Kool Aid Drinkers. La, La, La Connect the Dots. Oh, hi there, it's almost election time this year, so like what can I do to help myself against those evil union people? Hey, here is something interesting. USEP raise dues like a gigantic amount of ten dollars. That comes out to like 60 pennies a paycheck. What would my party do. I am a Republican, and whenever Republicans get into a political bind against an opponent in an election the most predictable and prudent thing to do is to call that opponent a tax crazy liberal. How can I call my opponent a tax crazy liberal? Think, think, think. OUCH, that hurt. Okay, I have it! If we talk about USEP's raising dues about 60 pennies per paycheck, isn't that like a tax. And if USEP supports my opponent, then that means he is like a liberal who likes to tax people. My opponent is a tax crazy liberal! Brilliant! Call up the Finance Person in the District and have them wast taxpayer money and resources by sending out a e-mail stating this about the evil USEP. Although all e-mails are public record subject to the Freedom of Information Act, we will claim that we had been bombarded with e-mails complaining about 60 Pennies missing from their paychecks. Everybody will believe us and no Reporter will ask for documents to support our claims about this e-mail. I only lie every other day. Genius. (In full disclosure dear reader, I am a registered Republican who has voted for Bush in the last election and Crist in the last election.)

[Pat Connolly]

The offending word seemed to be a word for unlawful sexual contact.

[Pat Connolly]

Interesting. My original reply was blocked by an antispam filter because I compared the current Superintendent's original drug-testing plan to a policy of requiring victims of a certain crime to pay for the cost of the evidence-gathering kit.

[Pat Connolly]

LW, I will gladly ignore the contract and give up my meager (less than 2%) step increase and "help out" as you suggest. If the oil companies roll back their prices so I can continue to afford the gas to get to work, if the health insurance companies roll back their prices so I can continue to afford coverage for my family, if the stores roll back their prices so I can continue to afford to put food on my family's table and clothes on my family's backs. And if the District "helps out" by actually working with the employees in trying to cut the budget in appropriate ways and starts to ACT like they value our contribution rather than simply plying us with platitudes while doing everything they can to belittle us and deprive us of what few rights we still have.

And please pick a number and an area. Is it 120 or 140%? Should we compare to Pasco County or the Bay Area? If you want to, you could probably find a demographic which shows that a beginning teacher makes 2000% more than the median income. Here's one ... I bet that a beginning high school teacher,@ $36k/year, makes more than 2000% (20 times as much, for the math-challenged) the median income of the students we teach.

Since we're talking about beginning teacher pay, I thought the public was in favor of merit pay. So how come our current Superintendent wants to pay unproven NOVICE teachers the same as EXPERIENCED teachers who have SUCCESSFULLY completed their first year, a year in which huge growth occurs? To be completely fair, I don't know for sure that this is the current Superintendent's plan. Other than simply declaring that she was freezing pay, she has yet to offer any specifics in how she proposes that this freezing would be done. While she would likely counter that the exact details are subject to negotiation, as the proponent of this idea she should at least have an idea of how it might be done and she better have a plan since she doesn't really negotiate anyway.

As to my union, I AM proud of what we have accomplished in protecting not just our members, but all Board employees, against the continual assaults on our profession by our current Superintendent and others. You want another example beside the patently illegal, involuntary servitude of shelter duty? How about the current Superintendent's plan to require an employee 'suspected' of being under the influence to pay for their own testing, regardless of the result?

[publicschoolteacher]

Only one of the union's accomplishments was the hurricane duty mess. That was just one example of the way our union has had to remind our would-be dictator that she is out of line. There are numerous other examples, too many for her short four years, in my opinion.

And stop with the whole "median income" thing already. It's a flawed argument. Compare us with other other professionals who have earned a degree (4+ years) in this county. I bet you find the figures largely changed then!

[terminator]

Michael,
excellent analysis.
we spend most of our time fighting off bad policy coming out of Tallahassee and more time fighting nepotism, cronyism, mismanagement, incompetence and corruption coming from our local school districts, most of whom are cesspools that need to be dissected and carved up into little pieces.
Pasco doesn't have the same magnitude of problems us large school districts have but they are a microcosm for what goes on all over Florida and the resultant waste of billions of dollars that never get to the kids or teachers due to administrative ineptitude.

3:03
Your post warms the cockles of termie's cyber power pack!
I blog on weekends and my own time too!
Keep up the good fight my Pasco friends and elect that teacher running for Sup Send Heather and her buddies packing.

[LW]

What a great union. The biggest accomplishment is getting out of having to staff schools during hurricanes. You should be proud of yourselves.
Then, you go big time insane oover the small step increases, ignoring the facts of the budgte, ignoring the hard times of Pasco residents that pay taxes, ignroing that other government bodies in the county that didnt get raises.
I know, it was in your contract. How about helping out and voluntarily saying you will forgo it for a year? Starting teachers, you make more than 140% of the median income for the Bay Area.
Get a grip

[PublicEd]

Another case of Politics Not Education! The fact that Union Dues are being raised is old news since sometime las year! Another case of the District using a shotgun blast approach to address a miniscule issue!!! Obviously a political ploy against the Union and its hardworking members! Heather Fiorentino must really be running scared to stoop to this point. No mention of the exact number of so-called Union Members that called in about their pay. As if they could not look at their pay stub and decipher that 62 cents extra was going to the USEP dues. No, don't buy the hype people, this is Heather'way of trying to deflect us from the truth that she is inept, incompetent, and irresponsible! Come Novemeber 4th, Vote Steve Donaldson for Superintendent and take the Politics out of the everyday running of the Pasco County District School Board.

[John Baines`]

Wrong-O union flacky. I don't work for the school district nor do I have a stake in the local Superintendent race. I think the position should be elected. I just think our local union in Pasco County Sucks money nuts.

[unionmemberandproud]

Coming from an Administrative lap dog, your comments are valued-NOT. I hope you donated $ to the Superintendent's wasted campaign. She and her lap dogs will soon infest the unemployment line. I just feel sorry for the rest of the unemployed. The era of using your lack of talents is almost at an end. I know this to be true by your lack of empathy to the plight of hard working teachers and employees and your stated animous towards the union.

The union flacks coming out here are a joke. You guys use anything as a forum to complain. It seems as if the district issues a response to calls about why they are already being docked and it turns out the docked pay is the union fees. HAAHHAA. It seems Ms. Webb is the real Miss Communication.

[teacher]

I think the real joke here is the communication between the Union and its members. Why weren't they informed about a raise in dues (no matter how "paltry") so they didn't have to waste their time calling payroll to get an answer?

[publicschoolteacher]

It's ok. You probably don't want to be confused with me though. Lots of people disagree with me on here. You'd catch flack that was meant for me! =)

[publicschoolteacher]

Sorry, that's not my name, its my profession. I didn't mean to use your name.

[publicschoolteacher of 2:39 and 7:32]

Hey, someone else is using my name! Quit that! The 7:31 post is not mine!

[publicschoolteacher]

3:03- It's publicschoolteacher, and many of us have taken a step in informing the district on how to do more with less. HF just didn't bother taking (or reading?) any of our suggestions.

4:43- Although, in a time of disaster, it would be the generous thing to do to go help out at shelters, I have 2 small kids at home. And since you obviously do not work for the school district, let me inform you that there were NO provisions in there for people with small children, sick family, or otherwise. It stated we HAD to go or be fired for insubordination. So, thank the union for striking that down!

It's the ill-informed public such as yourself that HF is counting on for votes! Let the propaganda continue!

[publicschoolteacher]

Shame on the dirty politics of a desperate soon to be replaced Superintendent.

[Michael]

Jeff, before you dedicate your blog to being used for a politically motivated causes, you should do your homework. Where should I start...
I called the United School Employees of Pasco today and asked for clarification regarding "their" dues increase. This is what I found out: The USEP did not raise its local dues. The USEP has not raised its local dues for about 8 years now. Over the past 8 years USEP's state affiliate, FEA - Yes the same FEA who used our dues money to fight the dreaded Public Education killing Florida Constitutional Amendments 5,7 & 9, has minimally raised its dues to keep pace with the legal costs of fighting State laws and local issues that would hurt public education employees. In another case, FEA was able to prove in court that Heather Fiorentino and her Administration violated State law when they issued the now infamous Hurricane Memo. FEA came to our aid to defeat Ms. Fiorentino's efforts to, in essence, make teachers and other employees, regardless of their personal situation, slaves of the District and force employees to man hurricane shelters, even over the summer when most contracts are not in force. A small increase was also sought by USEP's National affiliates. The National affiliates assist USEP on State, local and national issues and were part of the team with FEA to get Amendments 5, 7, & 9 thrown off the ballot as unconstitutional. For a paltry 62 cents increase, our State and National affiliates are fighting our fights day in and day out, and that fight is not cheap. We may not know what they are doing, but they are routinely using our money to help us maintain our rights and improve our working conditions and salaries. As far as USEP, they have been using the same amount of dues even though the cost of providing member benefits has gone up significantly over the past 8 years. Yes Jeff, nothing hypocritical here, the United School Employees of Pasco has been doing more with less for quite some time now. Now its time for the District to stop throwing stones when it lives in the perverbial glass house. It was a good attempt to try and change the subject from Employees salaries to an imagined union hypocracy. If it weren't for the union we probably would be looking at pay cuts and a partially paid benefits package. This is not to mention layoffs. Jeff, the devil is in the details. USEP did not raise its dues, the 62 cents that is at issue here passes through USEP and goes straight to its State and National affiliates. And yes, the memo was sent out in advance of the last remaining negotiation meetings where salaries will be determined. Besides, I'm sure the memo had nothing to do with the Superintendent's poll numbers dropping. The memo was misleading and inflamatory. I believe it was clearly politically motivated to weaken USEP's bargaining position. I for one will not allow the District to sway me from supporting the union as they fight for my rights and salary.

Not very many "teachers" are required to volunteer. What do you teach?

4:43 When I went to college to become a teacher it was NOT to supervise evacuees. Since you seem so keen on the idea why don't YOU volunteer?

This is FUNNY.

Any school employee who does not want to serve their community during a natural disaster should resign immediately.

Certainly, there should be periods of exception for employees-like when they have children under 12 living at home, or they are caring for an elderly parent, but for the most part public service includes public service.

Put your 68 cents toward a worthy cause.

This is priceless.

Dear publicschoolunionorganizer,

After having to read all of terminator's junk about administrative cuts, it is laughable that dozens of your members were yelling at the district administration over YOUR increased administrative bill. Can't you just protect the teachers for less money? Cut back some of those "organizers" like termie that spend all day on the blogs and it would seem that you could easily save hundreds of dollars per teacher. The members wouldn't notice a bit of difference in the services that they receive. Take a "leadership" role and show the district administration how to do more with less.

[publicschoolteacher]

What they don't tell you is that dues went up by 68 CENTS! And they went towards state and federal dues that allow us to fight unfair labor practices (hurricane shelter duty, et. al.). How about some thorough journalism, Jeff? Pretty soon, we'll see you in scarves!