Ever wonder why NYC Teachers get so angry with their working conditions? One reason is many of us know and speak to our colleagues who work in surrounding districts.
Let's do a comparison of our salaries in NYC to our friends just north of the Bronx border in Yonkers, NY. As of the 2011-14 contract, here is the Yonkers starting salary (Step 1), their top salary after fifteen years (16) and then the longevity pay for 20, 25 and 30 years.
2013-Yonkers
Step 1-$59,518
Step16-$130,088
Longevity: 20 years $2,447 25 years $1,071 30 years $1,371
This information is readily available at See Through New York for most school districts and for other public sector employees in the state.
At the end of 2016, the Yonkers Federation of Teachers signed a new agreement with the their mayor. What was their salary increase?
14.5% over 7 years.
They didn't publish the salary figures but by my simple math calculations it would mean by around 2020 (the last school year of the contract) their starting salary will be $68,148 and the top salary after 16 years but before longevity will rise to $148,951.
Yeah I know they have to pay for some of their medical coverage but that's quite a bit larger salary than we have in the city. I am also aware that their schools might have an at risk student or two, but I think you can see my point on salaries.
When the NYC teachers contract has its final raise in June of 2018, our starting salary will be $56,711 which does not even equal where Yonkers teachers started at in 2013.
Our top salary at the end of this contract in 2018 for someone who has completed 22 years in NYC will be $119,472. That is almost $11,000 behind where Yonkers teachers were in 2013 after only 16 years of teaching (but with more graduate credits than we have to obtain to reach maximum). Add in how we won't be receiving money we worked for from 2009-2011 in full until 2020 and you can see in part why I am opposed to Michael Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus.
We will need a successor contract with around 25% over three years to catch up to Yonkers.
I think a NYC teacher has more of a chance of winning the mega-millions jackpot than we have of the UFT catching up to the Yonkers salary schedule in the near future.
What percentage of Yonkers teachers voted to approve their recent contract?
96% yes vote. Can you blame them?
For the reader who wants two observations per year and a parking placard, Yonkers has a minimum of three but it's still better than our minimum of four for most teachers in NYC. I didn't find anything on parking in their contract (Update: A comment stated they have parking lots). Class size from grades 2-12 is capped at 30 in Yonkers. We have a class size limit of 34 in New York City high schools with loopholes the Department of Education can drive a fleet of trucks through. The school day in Yonkers is 6 hours and 45 minutes for elementary and 7 hours and 4 minutes for secondary; ours is 6 hours and 50 minutes for elementary and secondary. They are entitled to 12 sick days a year while we have 10.
In terms of salary and working conditions, New York City teachers rightfully should compare ourselves to what our peers in surrounding communities earn.
I chose Yonkers because it is a city and it certainly is close by.
We will do comparisons with other communities in future posts if readers would like.
26 comments:
Yonkers students are nowhere near as difficult as our students. In most of their schools, the worst kid wouldn't even be considered an issue for NYC schools. They also have parking lots so they don't have to drive around like fools for 45 minutes every morning looking for a spot to avoid a $115 ticket or $400 tow.
The worst part is I received two emails from the UFT telling me to call my Yonkers council member to help the Yonkers teachers get their contract through. Are you kidding? I'm supposed to lift a finger to help them make $30-$40k more than me? Nevermind that my insane taxes are paying for it. It's really sad what our "union" does for us.
We will never make what anyone in the suburbs makes.
Where are the numbers coming from? Page 12 of the Yonkers contract has top salary at $113k for 15 years of experience with masters plus 60 in 2013. Is there another page I'm missing or a different contract?
Wouldn't that put top salary somewhere around $130k on 2020. I could be off.
Nevermind, I found more pages.
What's the difference between page 24 and 43? Very large difference in numbers for the same dates, but I can't tell why.
24 is for athletic coaches. 43 is for guidance clerical staff. Read closely
Page 13 has the masters schedule.
You know why Yonkers teachers make more than UFT members? Mulgrew and Weingarten, and of course the soon to be illiterate rank and file.
The Sam Lazarus theory (longtime chapter leader of Bryant HS) is that the two problems with the UFT are the leadership and the membership. I guess 4:37pm agrees with Sam.
Right, and the example of the coconut who is always crowing on this site for 2 observations and a parking pass is a perfect example of that disintegration of the rank and file.
100% correct
That's exactly what I mean.
How do we change it?
The Coconut is bacl! I'd love to know if Anno 5:19 is happy with 4 observations and no parking permit. And please, oh please, enlighten me as to how I am a "perfect example of the disintergration of the rank and file.
You want so little and would settle for next to nothing to be satisfied.
Yep. Been teaching for 20+ years. Got a few more to go then retire. Not asking for much. I'll tell you what, I still love teaching. I just do not like the stress of these crazy drive by observations. Second, I am sick of having to pay 10 bucks a day to park my car in a lot or risk it getting it broken into or vandalized for the millionth time. Let me teach in peace while my car is safe in front of my school and I will be a happy camper. (And of course I would love to see class size reduced, get seniority based transfers back, be able to grieve letters to file, etc.) However, right now 2 observations and getting a parking permit are my priorities. Let the hate flow. I can take it!
4:35,
I'm an ATR and have been observed 22 times since October. I'll gladly take 4 drive by observations. The schools I rotate to usually have no parking or pay lots. The school I'm in now does have a pay lot next to it for which I pay $15 per day. All the teachers have spots in the school lot but since I'm an ATR and not permanent I can't park there - even though I've been here for two months. I've been a teacher for 20+ years.
Today I had a prep in which some envious teachers began telling me how good I have it. Not for nothing and I don't mean to insult you but I have to agree with 5:19. You don't know how good you have it.
i never said that I don't know how good I have it. What I am trying to get at is this: Prior to 2010 tenured teachers only had one or two observations. Prior to 2008, every teacher who wanted a parking permit got one. Since I was around way before both of these dates, I just want what was taken away from me. Why am I the only person who is so pissed off about all of this? Tell me what do all of you people here want? I am not asking for much. Parking permits would cost the city nothing. 2 observations is what the CSA and the DOE wanted but the friggin' UFT wanted 4. So please, post up exactly what all of you here on the ICE BLOG want to see the rank and file get in return for the $1,300 we pay in dues every year. And if you guys think that I am asking for too much, well, then I don't know what to tell ya'.
The problem is you've said it like a hundred times. Everyone agrees with you and your preaching to the choir, so enough is enough.
We need more than 2 observations and a parking placard. We need a whole series of things to get our respect back. Nobody has it good. We make $30,000 less than Yonkers.
I won't speak for anyone else but I would love to have a permanent position. ATRs are looked down on by admin and teachers. I will retire earlier because who wants to deal with it.
I think "Two observations and a Parking Permit" will take its place alongside such historical slogans as "Give Me liberty or give me death", "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country" and "I have not yet begun to fight" in the pantheon of great sayings.
Say it a million times if you like. Me, I would rather have one observation, or for that matter none because I know what I'm doing and I am a professional.
Coconut's last response here: Ok, since everyone agrees with me then I will keep my "2 observations and a parking permit" rant to my self from now on.However, I will end with this: I have voted the ICE and MORE ticket for many years. If I do not see that MORE is trying to get us 2 observations and a parking permit back then I will keep quiet and just put my head in the sand and say that it is game over. I was a very vocal supporter of JIa and MORE since the early days. I put flyers in all of the teachers mailboxes at my school. I am not a ranting sour puss. I have put in my time in the DOE and I am a very hardcore union supporter. However,at this stage in my career, I know how things are and I know how things work. The 2 topics that I focus on are what matter most to me, My union leadership which I have paid tens of thousands of dollars in my dues has let me down. The 2 things I ask for are not a huge deal. There are many, many, teachers in NYC who agree with me who don't check out these blogs but are ready to opt out of the UFT once we become a right to work state. I want a strong UFT but I also want a union that restores what was taken away from me. That is all.
Well said Two Observations and a Parking Permit. I don't think you are a coconut and wouldn't refer to you that way. You are not the problem.
For the record, I have no problem with you emphasizing this over and over again. New readers come to this blog and might not be familiar with everything that has been up here for a while. I do plenty of repeats.
If we were in power (MORE-ICE-New Action), I would urge we push to get rid of the entire Education Transformation Act of 2015 so we could go back to one observation a year or some kind of alternate assessment.
They are home today also.
It snowed a bit more up there.
try working in NJ...It's really not fair what the teachers in NY are getting compared to those in Bergen, Essex and Morris County....You just don't realize how good you have it in the city and especially Westchester County.
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