3.4 TEACHER UNIONS
Indian Hill School Spending – The Union Contract
(Fifth in a series of articles helping taxpayers understand school spending & funding issues)
An important part of the context of school spending is the union contract. Indian Hill’s current contract ends December 2011 & is between the District & the National Education Assoc. (NEA), the Ohio Education Assoc. (OEA), the Southwest Ohio Education Assoc. & the Indian Hill Education Assoc. The NEA & its affiliates are classified by the IRS as tax exempt, non profit organizations.
Here’s how Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, describes the NEA:
“ The NEA is the largest professional organization & largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers & other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges & universities, retired educators, & college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has 3.2 million members & is headquartered in Washington, D.C. With affiliate organizations in every state & in more than 14,000 communities across the nation, it employs over 550 staff .
It’s a part of Education International, the global federation of teacher’s unions. The NEA is a major funder of liberal organizations & the Democratic Party, & is frequently criticized for opposition to efforts for education reform.”
In 2008-09, the NEA & its state affiliates received over $1.6 billion in revenue, primarily from dues. Union dues are about $750/yr.
The OEA is the largest teacher organization in Ohio, representing more than 131,000 people. In a May 5 press release, Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute notes that a recent OEA monthly newsletter states, “it‘s essential that teachers not only be teacher unionists, but teachers of unionism.” The OEA goes on to recommend a website that “aims to inform children in grades 4-7 of current events from a progressive perspective & to inspire a passion for social justice & learning.”
The political influence of the NEA & its affiliates has been felt in every state legislature in the United States. It’s been extremely successful in having legislatures put into law many of the provisions in a typical district contract. Local school boards still control compensation costs, which, for Indian Hill, makes up 83% (& climbing!) of the school budget.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to even scratch the surface of the 72 page union contract, with its detailed 5 page table of contents. It describes every facet of a typical work day. As examples:
* Provision for leaving the building during the work day
* Detailed salary schedules for each contract year. With these schedules, one can predict salary with reasonable accuracy throughout a career. Importantly, merit is not a factor – simply time in grade!
* 16 subsections for leaves of absence – most as paid leave
* Provisions for paid lunch period
If you’d like to review the contract in depth, call the Board of Education (242-4500) office for a copy. It’s a public record you’re entitled, by law, to request. For a summary of major contract provisions, e mail crss@me.com.
Interested taxpayers should also read Ohio teacher contracts: The black hole of school spending. This article looks at controversial contract provisions in 19 Southwest Ohio schools, including Indian Hill, & can be found at publicschoolspending.com (click on “Contract Analysis” in the header). Of the 19 districts, Madeira & Mariemont are not unionized, although due to state laws, many contract provisions are similar.
Reminder 2nd half property tax bills will be mailed May 26, & are due June 20. If you’d like to include the “Protest” statement (protesting the January, 2010 unvoted tax increase) that many taxpayers included with last January’s tax bill, e mail crss@me.com for a copy.
Richard Cocks is a 45 year resident of Indian Hill.
Note:This paper appeared in the Northeast Suburban Life August 10, 2011 A8.
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Source: Nicholas D. Kristof, Cincinnati Enquirer Opinion page A15. October 16, 2009 referencing a devastating article in the New Yorker by Steven Brill.
“… unions ordinarily prevent teachers from being dismissed for incompetence – so the schools must pay failed teachers their full salaries to sit year after year doing nothing in centers called “rubber rooms.”
…. . The union fought to secure her return to teaching, Bill (Brill) wrote, until she passed out again, and her “water bottle” turned out to contain alcohol.”
… it is so expensive to remove teachers that the authorities typically try to do so only in cases of extreme misconduct – not for something as “minor” as incompentence.
Of course there are many other obstacles to learning: lack of safety, alcohol and narcotics, troubled homes and uninterested parents. But there’s mounting evidence that even in such failing schools, the individual teacher makes a vast difference.
Research has underscored that what matters most in education – more than class size or spending or anything – is access to good teachers.
There are no silver bullets, but researchers are gaining a better sense of what works in education for disadvantaged children: intensive preschool, charter schools with long hours, fewer certification requirements that limit entry to the teaching profession, higher compensation to attract and retain good teachers, objective measurement to see who is effective, more flexibility in removing those who are ineffective.
Unions’ clout needed
I’m hoping that unions will come round and cooperate with evidence-based reforms, using their political clout to push to raise teachers’ salaries rather than protect ineffective teachers.”
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Sycamore Education Association (SEA) represents the teaching staff and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) represents support
staff (educational assistants, clerical, transportation, custodial, maintenance and child nutrition workers).
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The presidents of both associations are full time employees of the district. The president of the SEA, Kevin Wittman is a high school teacher who has a full
teaching load. As part of our collective bargaining agreement he is permitted to conduct union business during his duty bell in lieu of an assigned duty such as study hall monitoring, tutoring, etc. For the 2011-12 school year, his salary is $87,684. The portion of his
salary that could be attributed to this time is approximately $12,500.
The president of OAPSE, Millie Tanner, is a full time secretary at the high school. She does not have a designated time in her work day to conduct union business. Her salary for the 2011-12 school year is
$39,942. BW
The National Right to Work Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to combating compulsory unionism through an aggressive program designed to mobilize public opposition to compulsory unionism and, at the same time, enlist public support for Right to Work legislation. The Committee’s mailing address is 8001 Braddock Road, Springfield, Virginia 22160. The Committee can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-325-7892. Its web address is http://nrtwc.org/
Adm says: teachers pay $168 to NEA and about $479 to OEA.
. Why are taxpayers funding a public-sector union president (at $64,000 each year) whose mission is to increase costs to taxpayers – i.e., to raise demand for public services, distort the labor market, weaken public finances and diminish the responsiveness of government and the quality of public services? Why are taxpayers contributing anything to have a union president negotiate against the public interest?
. As union dues are deducted directly from members’ paychecks by the government, which drastically reduces the unions’ administrative costs and enables a reliable revenue stream, don’t taxpayers already support public-sector unions?
. If the Cincinnati Organized Dedicated Employees union didn’t miss $757,099 embezzled by their president, is there really a need for taxpayers to pay the salary and benefits of the union’s president? And shouldn’t taxpayers be worried that the city of Cincinnati’s 800 middle managers (and their bosses) allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by an embezzler for several years?
. Shouldn’t taxpayers and our elected officials begin to “see the handwriting on the wall” – That as the Wall Street Journal put it recently, public-sector unions “may be the single biggest problem … for the U.S. economy and small-d democratic governance? Will Cincinnati eventually have to consider following the example of Vallejo, Calif., and declare bankruptcy so that it can renegotiate absurd employment contracts with the unions that have continuously increased the cost of government?
. When the New York Times reports that public-sector wages and benefits over the past decade have grown twice as fast as those in the private sector, shouldn’t taxpayers question the wisdom of such public policy as well as the elected leadership perpetuating it?
. When economist Barry Bluestone shows us that, between 2000 and 2008, the price of state and local public services has increased by 41 percent nationally, compared with 27 percent for private services, shouldn’t voters demand a sea change in public policy and political leadership?
. Are taxpayers being hoodwinked by unions, management or political leaders?
. Source: So are taxpayers being hoodwinked by public-sector unions? By Ron Miller GUEST COLUMNIST. The Enquirer OPINIONS 8/9/11 A7. Ron Miller of Clifton, a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, is a former executive director of Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission.
. A lawsuit filed by 15 teachers from across Ohio challenges one the state’s largest teacher unions about how it uses money collected from non-union members.
. The teachers, backed by a national anti-union nonprofit foundation, sued the Ohio Educational Association and its regional districts Thursday in federal court in Columbus. The OEA represents about 128,000 teachers and education staff, including a few thousand who opted out of joining a union but who still pay a “fair share” fee.
. Under Ohio law, unions can represent nonmember when that provision is negotiated into collective bargaining agreements. About two-thirds of the agreements between OEA affiliates and employers include provisions for nonmembers to pay fair-share fees, union officials said.
. But the law restricts how that nonmember money can be spent. It can fund collective bargaining activities and the administration of contracts, but can’t pay for political advocacy.
…This suit which seeks class-action status, ask federal court to throw out the nonmember fees, which it calls “forced fees.” Or, the lawsuit demands, the OEA and its regional districts must account for and refund fees that it says are misspent on non-collective bargaining activities, including public relations and membership.
. “Teachers shouldn’t be forced to pay for union bosses’ electioneering or anything like that,” said Anthony Riedel, spokesman for the National Right to Work Foundation, a Springfield, Va.-based group funding the lawsuit.
. Andy Jewell, one of the OEA’s lead researchers, says the lawsuit is frivolous. The union, he said, file financial reports with state and federal agencies spelling out how funds are spent and separating out funds spent on lobbying and politics – even the Senate Bill 5 repeal effort.
. Source: Anti-union teachers sue over fees By Denise Smith Amos, The Enquirer 8/6/11 C3
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in nearly 200 cases nationwide. The Foundation’s mailing address is 8001 Braddock Road, Springfield, Virginia 22160. Its web address is http://www.nrtw.org/.
“Teachers file grievence over schedule” changes made by Principal unilaterally.
“Teachers aren’t saying they don’t want to do it, they just want a say in how it is done.” The changes were made without any discussion or approval by the school’s instructional leadership team – a quasi-governing team of teachers representing all departments within a school.
Principal, teachers and other members may share leadership and make decisions” in areas surrounding instruction, training and budget. But is unclear whether team approval is mandatory.
Enquirer Oct 2, 2010 page B5
I suggest that before you vote for a levy you read at least three well written books:
School Corruption: Betray of Children and the Public Trust
By: Armand A. Fusco, Ed.D.
Dumbing Us Down (The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling By: John Taylor Gatto
N.E.A. Trojan Horse in American Education
By: Samuel L. Blumenfeld
Also, you might want to read: Common Sense
By: Thomas Paine
This little book was read by almost all of the population when it was written. Even the poor and many of the slaves could read it. At the time almost everyone was either church or home schooled. The vocabulary in the book would be considered college level by even the “Excellent” rated government schools.
The following was submitted Nov. 8, 2009 by a reader.
When professional nurses, RN, LPN, etc. are discovered to be incompetent, be substance users, cause harm (and the list goes on), they have their license revolked by a State Board of professionals (Ohio Board of Nursing) who oversee the individual performance of each duly licensed nurse/health care professional. Where is this accountability and action in the teaching profession. (?) Of course, nurses are taught and highly discouraged from ever forming a union in the spirit of being “professional(s)”.