Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for April 7, 2009 NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

Nothing really to report...

As previously mentioned, the start of last night's session was moved back one hour - to 7 p.m. - so that participants could attend the Cairo High School National Honor Society induction ceremony held at 6 p.m. in the CJSHS library.

The session lasted approximately 3 hours.

Again, when you take a month off between sessions, much time is wasted in revisiting old positions. Fortunately, another session is scheduled for this Thursday night...April 9th.

One item that had been proposed by the BOE team early on had been the elimination of "Step 0" on the salary schedule...WITHOUT moving existing employees. The concept was an artificial means of "raising" the starting salary...to try to attract new teachers. The result would be to pay brand new teachers with no experience the same amount of money being paid to a teacher who had taught last year.

Needless to say, this concept was not welcomed by the CAT team and was rejected at several meetings.

Tonight, IEA UniServ Director Jim Tammen brought his expertise and skills to the table...presenting a 3-pronged approach to accomplish the wishes of the BOE team - a higher entry-level salary - without making structural changes in the salary schedule. The BOE team accepted the presentation in principle, eliminating a stumbling block to salary negotiations. Now the parties can focus on dollars instead of gimmicks.

The other major topic of exploration tonight was the contractual treatment of part-time employees...which provisions will apply, which provisions will not apply, and which provisions need to be modified. The BOE team made a significant change in its philosophy at the last meeting...moving from an exclusionary approach toward the Association's inclusionary approach. The purpose of tonight's discussion was to clarify the remaining discrepancies, hopefully in preparation of bringing focus to the outstanding issues.

Another BIG obstacle remains...the issue of retirement and the severance bonus. This "elephant in the room" received passing mention, but was not addressed.

However, the "elephant" is not going to go away of its own accord...it will have to be resolved.

(I am well aware that much of this information is repetitive. However, I also know that the issue continues to be confusing. Therefore, bear with me.)

The reason this issue has arisen is that the Illinois General Assembly has changed the rules by which Districts have to operate.

Namely:

• The 6% cap on raises for teachers planning to retire. Your retirement income is based upon your average salary for the best 4 consecutive years during your last 10 years of employment. Since many northern superintendents abused the "golden parachute system" - receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in raises during their final four years - the General Assembly put a cap on "acceptable raises" for those final four years...6% over what you made the previous year (including coaching, horizontal movement on the salary schedule, etc.) Oh, the BOE CAN give more than 6% raises, but if they do, the District has to pay a penalty...something like $13 for every $1.

  Yikes!!!

  Needless to say, most Districts are very careful not give teachers more than the 6%.

  This is where the issue of your "severance pay" comes in...the $300 per year you get from CSD #1 if you retire with at least 20 years of experience in CSD #1. Anything over 6% would fall into the "penalty range". Trust me...20 years (or more) times $300 per year is $6,000 (or more.) THAT, added to whatever raise you received in your final year is WAY over 6%. For every $1 over, the District would have to pay the penalty of $13...thousands of dollars that would be wasted...that would reduce the money available for employee salaries or educational supplies.

  What the BOE and the CAT are trying to do in negotiations is what has been done elsewhere...create a method of taking the anticipated severance pay and backing it into the four years immediately preceding your retirement. This spreads the bonus out over your last four years instead of lumping it into your final year...allowing you "more bang for your buck" (a higher average salary for your final four years) without exceeding the 6% cap...without causing the District to pay a penalty.

  Any amount of your bonus still unused (because it would have exceeded the 6% cap) CAN be paid to you after you retire. You don't get credit toward TRS, but you do get the dollars you earned. (For example, if you earned a $6,000 severance bonus and $4,000 of it was applied to raises during your final four years, boosting your retirement income, you would then receive a check for the remaining $2,000 on the payroll date following your retirement.)

• If you retire with 35 years of service (including any unused sick leave) OR you retire at age 60, there is no problem under what is being negotiated.

  However, if you do not meet one of the above scenarios...a problem has reared its ugly head!

• A person who retires before the age of 60 with less than 35 years of service exercises what is called the Early Retirement Option - ERO.

  This is another situation where penalties are applied...to the employee AND to the District. The penalties for the District are - again - significant. Hence, the District does NOT want you to take ERO...the District wants you to stay until you either reach 60 years of age or you have 35 years of service.

  Yes, the District saves money if a person with many years of experience retires and the District hires a "newbie". When the penalties for ERO were not excessive, District's would see the advantages and encourage...even pay for an employee to make an early exit.

  Unfortunately, with the increasing burden of pensions, the General Assembly took action to discourage early retirement, increasing the penalties.

  Therefore, the BIG ISSUE that has arisen in this year's negotiations is that the BOE has taken a position that IF a teacher chooses the ERO option, then that teacher will forfeit his/her bonus. The District does not want the "double burden" of paying ERO penalties AND paying the retiring teacher a bonus.

  Needless to say, the CAT team has opposed this "loss of bonus".

  THAT is where we stood before tonight's session...THAT is where we stand now. THAT is "the elephant in the room".

POSTSCRIPT: If you do NOT receive a survey form by Wednesday morning, please contact one of the individuals identified above.