Many school districts may end instruction early to avoid the expense of breaking teacher contracts
School districts across New York are considering ending this very strange school year a week or so early to avoid having to pay teachers and staff for working more days than what's in their contracts.
Most districts have been scheduled to close for summer around Friday, June 26, but many are now talking about halting remote learning in mid-June. Since schools had to continue instruction through spring recess, teachers and other staff are on track to work too many days in many districts, meaning districts could face major payouts that they cannot afford.
"It would introduce a significant financial burden on the school district if we had to compensate our employees for those additional work days," said Kristopher Harrison, superintendent of the Irvington school district, which plans to adjust its calendar next week.
Further down:
Since union contracts for teachers and other employees specify how many days they will work during the school calendar, most districts are on track to break those contracts if they don't tighten their calendars.
Not so fast NYC. Here is what our Contract says on the work year in Article 6C1:
1. All teachers shall report to their schools to begin work on the Tuesday following
Labor Day, and will have a professional day on Brooklyn-Queens Day. The Tuesday
following Labor Day may be an instructional day. Teachers shall be in attendance on
duty thereafter on all days of the school year except for the last two weekdays of the
month of June.
City teachers, as you can see by looking at the Contract, do not work a fixed number of days, but instead are in session from the day after Labor Day until the last two weekdays in June. We are on duty after Labor Day for "all days of the school year" except those last two weekdays in June. This year, seven days were added by taking away spring break.
I once rose at a Delegate Assembly to speak to the Delegates about the fixed number of days that many other districts work in New York suburbs. I proposed that we should have such a calendar in the city. It didn't move Randi that we should have a work year in NYC with a fixed number of workdays although then Staff Director Mike Mendel said I spoke very well. (Here's a link to me ranting on this topic in 2006.)
Instead of monetary compensation for the seven school days of spring break that were given up, would you take an earlier summer vacation? The DOE may argue that they gave the four CAR days which they will say makes up for four of those days.
- Would you agree to start the summer vacation after June 23rd as payment for working during spring break? ( Leave remote learning three days earlier but keep the four CAR days*)
- Would you agree to give back those four extra CAR days in exchange for ending the school year on June 18th? (That would make up for the seven days worked during spring break*)
NYC which is strapped for cash could save some money if they ended the school year early instead of having to pay UFTers for those extra days that were worked in April.
*I am not exactly sure how the accountants would figure out the value of CAR days since employees who don't use them only cash them in at one day of pay for every two worked upon retiring so they might not exactly translate to one full day of pay. However, I don't see any way the city would pay the teachers the extra four CAR days and allow the school year to end seven days earlier or pay for the seven days in full.
63 comments:
I prefer money or more sick bank days.
We should've gotten 14 CAR days because they are only worth half a day each.
Ok, so take the sick bank days. No givebacks. Most are just gonna pass the kids anyway. Why lose something of value?
The problem is Mulgrew could demand negotiations and the city can say Okay but we're broke. How do we get around that? I'll add that as an option here but in this fiscal climate that is unlikely.
7:56, How are you going to get around it when the city cries poverty? 7:50, I mentioned the costing issues in the post. A CAR day is not worth a whole day. We should get more than just four for working four days.
So give us several more CAR days. I'll take that. I'm 39 years old with 163 days. Give me a few more.
Didn't we have three snow days in the calendar right? Couldn't you say that March 16th was like a snow day. So they should end it on the 19th of June.
I'll take 3 more CAR days, please. I'm afraid if we end early, they'll try to pull a fast one and make us go back early.
I would prefer monetary compensation. Everybody else that is working, and yes, DOE staff is working, gets monetary compensation.
No one will pay attention to this - and I'm writing just for me - but see Monday May 25? We are not working.
I would take June 1, June 8, June 15, and June 22. A week of Mondays. That would make life almost tolerable the rest of the way.
These weeks are very long.
jd
Asking for days in June is very reasonable. Jonathan's idea makes some sense as one possibility.
City does not have to pay out any further money that they don't have and UFTers get days back that were given up during spring break.
Contractually, they cannot start early next year 8:55.
Mayor says city is financially strapped meanwhile he's naming a new director everyday with that comes with a pay raise. There was an article in the NY Post about this. He also said today he's buying Air Conditioners for the Elderly today. Where is this money coming from? He is also doing an ad campaign. Where is this money coming from? In my neighborhood this doesn't sound Kosher to me!!!!!!
It is also May 15 and there is no calendar for next year. I was told by my district rep it was suppose to be out last week.
Valid points 9:34. That said, those expenditures won't come close to paying 125,000 DOE employees three or four days pay.
To the guy who keeps trying to post a Kevin McCarthy attack on the Democrats, Please post it on the Democratic unity post. It is fine there. This is about getting compensation for working spring break. So far, everything has been at least somewhat related.
But the point here is he's crying poverty, yet spending money? My father worked for the MTA and he always said the had 3 sets of books. How does a revenue bearing agency lose money and stay in business? The city NEVER says it has excess funds even when it is flush with cash. I don't believe this Governor and I don't believe this Mayor.
Chancellor is delaying the calendar. Better no calendar at this point than a lousy one.
I heard the Calendar is with the Lawyers of the DOE and I don't trust them either.
On another note, James I read your Blog daily. I find it interesting.
We showed how the city had lots of surplus money on this blog during the 2014 contract negotiation and during 2018 when we didn't even fight for a contract. However, the membership voted to have Mulgrew/Unity Caucus negotiate contracts and not me. Well, that is except for the high school teachers, a majority of whom voted for me in 2016, the last time I ran for office. Now, the city is truly in a bit of a financial bind. Not that they can't find other forms of revenue or cut plenty of fat at Tweed and in the districts.
Thank you 9:56. The calendar is usually released by now. It is the middle of May.
Honestly,
I’ve already really scaled back what I have been doing. I post a bs lesson each morning(no live teaching, nobody does the lesson and I go hit golf balls in my yard.
I can do that for six more weeks.
You are a real credit to our profession. You probably kiss your AP's ass and she doesn't bother you. Admitting you can do this in a public forum while so many of us spend our days struggling to keep up on our kids is not too bright. You are the reason we are called NY's dumbest.
People still think we're getting paid for those days? lol.
We were never getting paid. Mulgrew said we have the right to negotiate, now watch him negotiate.
Up to rank and file to push them.
My children's district on Long Island emailed yesterday the last day is June 16th. They worked less days than us too. Plus, the first 2 weeks were just a packet to complete with no teacher interaction. Great deal as usual. I would gladly take the 10 car days. People who will go over the 200 should be paid or allowed to go over 200 days. If we want money we will have to wait to 2032 with no interest.
The fact that the calendar is not out yet is concerning. What is the union expecting us to give up now? More days/more instructional time with no pay?
The sooner we end this teaching and learning charade, the better. My students had been taking remote learning seriously enough to keep decent grades. Ever since the grading policy came out, the majority of my students are doing just enough to keep an average somewhere around 65. The next mayor and chancellor will have a big job in cleaning up the Deblasio/Carranza debacle.
1126,
It is not your job to spend all day checking up the kids. And here’s another thing. They are not ‘our’ kids.
My kids are the ones I raise in my home. Students I teach are just that. They are kids I teach and I like them and am courteous to them.
But in this instance, and I’m not sorry to say this, I’m not killing myself. You do the work, that’s wonderful. You don’t. Ah, well, no skin off of my back.
My AP told us ‘if everyone gets a satisfactory, your life will be made a whole lot easier. You won’t have to justify what you did all year.’ Done, done and done.
Keep fighting the good fight and see what that gets you.
Work smart, not hard.
Be well!
1133,
When pigs fly we will get paid. Mulgrew will negotiate when I marry a super model(never).
You know what would be nice? Let the rank and file vote for what we want: Extra CAR day, cash, or get out of school in June earlier. However, since the city is broke, it seems to me that letting us our early would be the best bet as it costs them nothing to do that. (However, the rag newspapers would beat us to death. "What about the children")
Monetary compensation is the best way to go. CAR days are worth half and you are not promised tomorrow. Recently I was informed by a retiree that a current member passed away in March. This person wanted to retire soon. Did not get to enjoy any surplus CAR days or a hard earned retirement.
Maybe we can settle for a free air-conditioner the Mayor is spending 55 million on.
Glad I’m finally retired. Forgive me but you folks are penny wise and dollar foolish. I’d be focusing on what’s going to be happening in September, according to Mulgrew planned version. Massive excessing and no lay offs. How exactly does that work? Does the City plan on excessing students? Does the City expect many parents to refuse to send their offspring, pass them anyway and thus have lowered class sizes to validate the excessing? Or more realistically will the city need to hire thousands of new hires to replace the excessed veterans, then asking for federal funds to ensure the FSF scheme; thus setting off public and Republican outrage at unjustifiable waste at a time of dire need? I wouldn’t be worrying about petty bs, I’d be asking that turd of a UFT President some hard questions.
I never understood why people work more years than they are required. I've heard of teachers teaching 35 or 40 years and for what, a few more bucks in your pension? A colleague once said to me, you retire in your fifties, you will live until your 80s; You retire in your sixties, you will live until your 70s and I believe him. If it's a money think, sell your house in NY and live off your pension somewhere down south. If you want extra money, sub per-diem at the local schools in your area. Little prep, short commute and probably better kids and more respect.
We need to consider nonmonetary compensation especially now with these budget issues. Shorter workdays at the same pay is a raise.
I'm out after the last retro this October, 40 years old...
important question about the 4 extra CAR days.
Can I use them this year as personal days without having to put in a request with my principal?
As i definitely want to use them-
NO.
The guy worried about the NY Post editorial: Would you propose we work for free?
Bill de Blasio has threatened to lay off or furlough front-line workers because of the budget crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic — but in the last several weeks, he’s made nearly $2 million in hirings or promotions of at least 10 people, including several communications jobs and a records director position.
“The unfettered spending and deception from the de Blasio administration never stops, even during a financial crisis,” fumed Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens).
James 9:34 from last night, just thinking the 4 CAR days they gave us was because the first 2 days and the last 2 days of Spring Break are religious Jewish holidays, thus on the original calendar we were off, now with the city making us work Spring Break it was have cost some members money either taking religious observance, sick day or day without pay. I'm not a lawyer but I'm sure this was checked through legal and it would have cost more money with a potential lawsuit so in my mind it was given to us for free, thus they still owe the 7 days. That is why they were so fast to agree to this.
125,000 DOE employees. Let's say average salary for DC37, UFT and CSA is $75,000.1/200 of salary which is how a day for teachers is calculated comes to $375 per day. For 3 days that comes to $1,125. Multiply that by those 125,000 employees and you get $140,625,000. This is very crude and basic but you get the idea of what we're talking about. City is not paying that money in this climate in my opinion.
Great article in the Post about all the useless people under Carranza in the doe and how they make over $200,000 + a year for desk jobs. These people were added over the last 2 years. Carranza said there is no "Fat" to cut. Shame on Carranza and Di Blassio. IF they can pay these useless people they can certainly give us our last retro in October.
That will get a lot of air conditioners.
140 million is outrageous. How would think we would get that? Mulgrew was gonna get that? Lol. I would try to just get a few more sick days tacked on.
We get 9 years at 1.3% per year and you think he is negotiating that in a recession. We will get nothing. They will prob just end school a couple days early.
Mulgrew is going to get those dollars? Yeah right. He couldn't get more than 2% a year when the city had an extra $8 billion but he's gonna get us all that hundred million now? People here are in dreamworld. Take four days in June and call it a day.
The DOE employs 1,189 educrats making $125,000 to $262,000 a year. All have desk jobs at Tweed Courthouse or in
borough offices, records obtained by The Post show. Of those, 50 execs take home $200,000-plus — more than double the 21 at that salary level in fiscal year 2018.
That does not count Carranza, who collects $363,000.
Despite the army of six-figure supervisors, the DOE still pays high-priced consultants.
The DOE just inked a two-month, $1.2 million contract with Accenture LLP to advise the chancellor on school-reopening options, including a mix of classroom and remote learning.
Accenture staffers bill up to $425 an hour. That’s on top of another three-year Accenture contract costing the DOE $1.7 million a year for management advice.
It’s all going to implode. Everyone but teachers know it.
We all knew this was a scam. Schools where students never learn and still get credit. Most schools. If that isnt the sign of a huge scam, nothing is. I hope some teachers have ideas after the doe collapses financially.
Think of it. 4 years in school doing absolutely nothing but manages to get every credit. Huge house of cards collapsing.
I am not a teacher, but work as a school counselor. I get to see the final grade and marking period grades. It's an eye opener when I have read student work and compare it to 'high' grades. It is so sad. The shock has worn off. This is why so many do not graduate from college.
NYC and New York State are not broke. They are not insolvent and they are not bankrupt. They are looking for the Federal Government to help them cover costs, most of which have been incurred because of a pandemic emergency--Federal, State, and Local emergencies have been declared. I would love to see the congress pass two more 3 Trillion dollar support acts, send a huge block to NY, but at this point the congress is mired in political mud and it's unlikely that a quick infusion of cash will be sent to the States. So what can the State and City do? They have very good credit. Looking across the debt markets at quality states New York looks very good, not as strong as it was before the pandemic but still very strong. Why not borrow the money to keep everyone employed? A new coronavirus bond market has reached $65bn in just a few months and is set to keep growing, as companies and governments rush to issue debt to help ease the effects of the pandemic. NY has lots of options for credit. There is still so much money looking for a safe place to go where interest is above .25% There is a way to get the money other than waiting for washington to shit or get off the pot. Hell, as long as Bill Gates is hanging around, a guy who knows all about financing projects and budgets in emergencies, in Africa even, why not put him on a team with that handsome guy from Chase and a few others, Bloomberg is on the team right....get the idea. Money policy, Fed policy, and Fiscal policy, bailouts are not the only way to pay the bills and keep the lights on. Tap the bond market or private loan market or turn to the banks and get a loan.
Politico
Now the city’s budget is on a collision course with a global pandemic that looms over de Blasio’s legacy...
While debt is routine for capital projects, Maria Doulis of the Citizens Budget Committee warned that type of borrowing has only been done "in the most dire of circumstances" such as the fiscal crisis of the 1970s and Sept. 11. "Borrowing for operating purposes puts future New Yorkers on the hook for today's services; it should only ever be considered as a last resort," she said.
Given de Blasio's $20 billion increase to the city budget since taking office, his addition of more than 30,000 municipal employees and his resistance to ever enforcing budget cuts, Doulis said the mayor has "considerable work to be done curbing spending" before resorting to issuing bonds to cover the daily costs of governing.
Carol Kellermann, former head of the same commission, said de Blasio will be judged by his handling of the fiscal fallout from the crisis.
Nobody in their right mind could
argue that the DOE budget cannot be cut.
Cuomo has emergency spending power. He has, in the ELFA, done some borrowing, and can take on a lot more debt that is exempt from statutory limitations and he needs to do this. Instead he is playing politics. He loves to say he is above politics, not playing politics, but his threat, and the mayors threat to workers is a political ploy that is aimed at washington and the elections. It's a sick game. He has the authority to raised the money through short term debt that can even be extended if the so-called V-recovery does not arrive (I doubt it will) and NY is stuck in a depression for a protracted period of time. But we all know that, while States don't print money, and have lots of budgetary constraints washington is not limited by, a kind of Keynesian State policy is needed here to fight the depression. States and Cities need to spend more not less. They need to keep as many people employed as they can. And wages paid to essential jobs, jobs that maintain the state and city like teachers and fire fighters and cops will be spent in the real economy and multiply through it. You don't cut jobs and wages in a depression.
On that note, why attack others who are getting paid. Why call for cuts of this guys job or wages or that guys? Let everyone who has a job keep it and this will help the recovery for those who are out of work.
This is basic shit folks. Mulgrew can't say the city is broke. That's too easy. The city has incredible resources for funds outside of cuts. Cutting is not the solution to a depression.
Mulgrew said the city was broke in 2014 when he accepted the shitty contract where I am still waiting for a quarter of the money I am owed. The city had extra billions in 2014.
While I accept that there is no such thing as expansionary austerity, it is the federal government that needs to make this happen.
I like how the scam with Maspeth sort of died out and I bet thousands of kids are applying there despite all the fraud. If only the public knew more about this scamming than it does. They see a high graduation rate and think it's real.
"I’ve already really scaled back what I have been doing. I post a bs lesson each morning(no live teaching, nobody does the lesson and I go hit golf balls in my yard. I can do that for six more weeks."
MONEY FOR NOTHING BUT ARE THE CHICKS FOR FREE?
I want my I want my mtv.
Let’s just end school early for the sake of BOTH the teachers AND the parents, and now is not the time to say who’s doing more and dealing with more. Teachers AND parents are facing challenges on both sides of this virtual world of education. I thought thought we were all in this together!
1205,
If it makes you feel any better, I still have a tough time with my putts.
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