| SUNDAY, AUGUST 26TH PARENT MEETING HIGHLIGHTS |
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Q&A
Community Comments
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Several Harlem certified staff members held an informational meeting with parents on Sunday, August 26th at the VFW post in Loves Park. Parents asked many questions and voiced many concerns about the strike. Harlem High School teacher Bill Dredge fielded questions and comments from parents and the community, and several other certified staff were on-hand to answer questions as well. The meeting lasted for approximately two hours, and approximately 200 parents, students and community members attended.
Bill opened the meeting with several comments on where the teachers stand, and why we are in the position we are in right now. He shared that when the Harlem School District was in dire straits, the teachers sacrificed. He shared that the District is no longer challenged financially, and that teachers should be given the raise they sacrificed for three years.
Bill also shared that we need to be competitive in terms of attracting and keeping quality teachers, and that right now, we are not. With the current pay structure put into place, the new teacher's financial picture dims the longer they stay in the Harlem District. We lost 120 quality teachers over the last three years.
Bill also shared that for the first time he can remember (and he has been teaching in the Harlem District for 34 years), the School Board is simply telling us that they do not want to spend the money that is already there, rather than it being an issue of actually not having the money. Finally, Bill reminded all that what the teachers are asking would not put the District in dire financial straits, nor would it force the District into asking for a tax increase. The money is already there.
Bill reiterated to parents that the teachers do not like the strike any more than the parents do, and that we want to get the kids back into the classroom as much as they do.
Below you will find a summary of some of the questions asked and answered throughout the rest of the parent meeting:
Q:When exactly are the kids going back to school?
A: They're going back when we get a settlement. The two sides need to start talking.
Q:Did they give you a raise in the package that they offered you and how much was it that you turned down?
A: If there's anyone in here that thinks we are not affected by this, that we are enjoying this, our level of disappointment is phenomenal. The last board offer was a 3.2% raise on the base for the 3x5 schedule, and 2.6% for the 5x5 schedule. The increase they're offering us is still putting us below the level of other districts. We're talking about surplus money and the fact that the governor passed a budget that will increase funds by 3 million dollars, and they are not talking about that at all.
Q: What was the total package? Was the 3.2% over three years?
A: 3.2% each year. Please understand that it is Not a 3.2 % raise every year, take home pay. It is a 3.2% raise on the base salary, the salary that a first year teacher makes. We are not asking anything but for maintain a fair market value for our kids. We want a lot of good things for our students. I have veteran teachers that I worked with that retired last year because they don't like what's going on in the District.
Q: Is the $10 mil surplus being reserved for the possible re-opening of Hoffman due to over-crowding? What about the safety of our children? is some of that surplus going to that?
A: The answer is that building maintenance and saftey costs come from a separate fund in the District; the surplus that the District enjoys is in the Educational Fund, which is used for educational costs and teacher salaries.
Q: When does Dr. DeLuca’s term expire?
A: Dr. DeLuca has a three year extension on his contract, and the school board hires and fires him. speaking of Dr. DeLuca, I’m pretty surehe's not having people over at his house today doing what we’re doing here today. The reason we’re here is because we want to provide that clarity.
Q: Could you please explain how the pay scale works and what do other districts have in terms of scales?
A: As far as I know, no one else has a 3x5 schedule out there. If you are a first year teacher at Harlem, five years down the road, you will see your financial earnings significantly drop compared to others in the area. The difference is a slowness in appreciation for the work you do, plus the issue of teacher equality. Why should I get paid more than a newly-hired teacher doing the same job just because I happen to have started before that teacher and am on a different salary schedule?
Q: Is the union trying to get rid of the 3x5? What else are you asking for?
A: Yes, we are looking to eliminate the 3x5 schedule, and we are also asking for approximately a 5% increase on the base salary. Remember, though, that we are asking for a 5% increase on the base salary, and not a 5% increase for all teachers in the district.
Q: You are asking for a 5% increase on the base pay, which is what, about 1,500 bucks? That's peanuts, 5% doesn't even keep up with gas prices, it's not a lot of money. And you guys have to pay for your health insurance?
A: No, we do not pay for total health insurance costs, but yes, we did incur a significant increase in insurance costs during the last round of negotiations.
Q: When you took the pay freeze three years ago -- the 0% -- did you get your step [and increase on the salary schedule that teachers earn every year for an additional year of experience]?
A: No, we did not move a step during the hard freeze -- and I have done that twice now since teaching at Harlem.
Q: The number of the 120 teachers [that left the District in the last three years], how many left for reasons other than money? I don't think all of them left for money.
A: I can't speak for all 120 teachers, but I can tell you that from what I see, the teachers around me, they're leaving for money. I can tell you that in all my years in the District, I have never seen as many new teachers as I saw last week. When we used to have new teacher orientation meetings before school started in the fall, we were able to comfortably house all of them in the Board room at the Administration Center. This year, there are so many of them, they had to meet in the High School auditorium and be broken into groups throughout the day to cover all of the information we had to give them.
Q: Is it really a problem getting people to come to the District to work? Is the District having to hire subs for the whole year?
A: Yes, the district did in fact have to hire subs for the entire year for some positions in the District. Some people were given what are called "terminal contracts" to teach in the District, which means they are only hired for one year because they are not qualified to teach what they were hired to teach. This year, there are 10 special education positions at the high school alone that still have not been filled.
Q: I am shocked about the strike, because where I came from in Wisconsin, strikes are not allowed to happen, period. If you can't come to an agreement, why not start school. while you are working on it?
A: The answer is -- and it's not a popular one, I know -- is that we do not think we can get a fair agreement if we go back to work; the board does not even want to negotiate NOW, and would have even less incentive if we go back to school.
Q: I want to rally behind the teachers, but what can we do?
A: I think there's one thing we have to do to, and we HAVE to go to the board; show up at the school board meeting, email them, call them, do whatever you need to do to get a hold of them. You need to tell 10 of your friends to get a hold of a board member - call them, email them, everyone needs to contact board members about this. Try to speak at the board meeting, if you can.
Q: I want to know who to support…is your proposal going to eat up a lot of that budget surplus? Why are they holding our kids up if not? Just for sitting on money? Why does the district need to sit on that money when they can spend it to educate our kids?
A: we are NOT looking to break the bank with our proposal, and no, our proposal would not eat up the surplus.
Comments from the community made during the parent meeting:
"I am senior at HHS and I am concerned about students losing days at school. Every day that students are not able to play a sport, they may lose out on a scholarship opportunity. Teachers should be getting paid more because they have the same expenses as we do, they went to school and they are teaching far more students than they should."
"I came as a past board member in another district; I served another four years in an advisory capacity. I know how school boards work. The bottom line is the teachers are professionals. They didn’t choose the profession because it has high wages, they choose it because they care about education. I know a lot of teachers who left Harlem because of the school board and Dr. DeLuca. People think they are overpaid because they get all this time off, but teachers are never done at 3:00, they take things home all the time; they pay a large amount of money to get their degree, and many paid even more to get their master’s degree. Teachers are still paying on their college loans.
"I’ve watched Dr. DeLuca and he speaks with a forked tongue; he tells the board one thing and the public another and the teachers another, and he continues to be able to tell the board what to do. The board members are there to do what’s best for the STUDENTS, and it seems this board have lost track of why they’re there. The teachers not asking for anything out of sight, but they’re asking for enough to keep people in the district. Please do not feel sorry for the board member; they run because they care – they are supposed to care. You know what you are getting into when you run for the school board. Right now, you can’t even get a hold of your board. They’re supposed to be working for you! The board needs to sit back and re-analyze what they’re doing, instead of sitting there and being proud of their poor pay scales. Everyone needs to let them know you care and you don’t like it."
"This strike has been a tremendous hardship and expense for the care of my girlfriend's kids because they are not in school. I am a member of AFSCME and am president of my local, I know how the negotiations process works. You need to use external comparables, I believe that. I’ve negotiated for about 15 years, and I know Mike Salmon [the federal mediator assigned to the Harlem negotiations process] and I know how he works. He mediates between the two sides, and he looks to see how many people are behind each side; when he sees that there are 300 parents behind the teachers, he’ll push DeLuca to get this settled. The resolution is for everbody in this room to go to that school board meeting and blast the school board and DeLuca."
"The foundation of any district is their teachers, and I want to see the district grow instead of go downhill. If we don’t pay them, the district will go downhill. If we can’t get and keep good teachers, nobody’s going to want to move to this district and our house values would go down. I think one of the biggest problems we have is Dr. DeLuca. He has increased his salary …his salary has been increased very nicely and I am disgusted with the way he twists the truth around so people like us don’t know what’s going on... his quote in the paper about a 6% raise doesn’t add up. I don’t believe the teachers ever went on strike under Hurley, and DeLuca has had 3 strikes in four years."
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