They’ll give it one more shot.
Burlington teachers voted overwhelmingly Thursday to strike if negotiations with the Burlington School Board fail next week. The last-ditch session is scheduled for Wednesday. Teachers won’t show for work next Thursday if a negotiated settlement isn’t reached, according to Burlington Education Association president Fran Brock.
“We did not ever think it would come to this,” Brock said Thursday afternoon following the union’s vote, “but the leadership of this board has decided that division, political gamesmanship, and walking away and imposing employment conditions was a better course than settling during more than a year of talks.”
Some 96 percent of the 400 teachers voted in favor of the strike, Brock told Seven Days.
The vote comes after the school board last month imposed terms of pay and benefits on the teachers’ union. The employment policy gives teachers a 2.75 percent raise and an average salary increase of $1,900 for the year. The Burlington Education Association had most recently called for a 3.25 percent increase.
The two sides spent more than a year negotiating a new contract before the board imposed the terms. The union filed a grievance and the school board agreed this week to return to the table October 19. Ira Lobel will mediate the discussions.
“As indicated previously, for the current year contract, there is no additional money available to allocate to teacher salaries,” board member Miriam Stoll said in a statement posted Wednesday on Front Porch Forum. “However, the Board is able to consider possible ways to reallocate the monies targeted to teacher compensation in the current budget to better generate agreement. In addition, the Board is ready to discuss any topic pertaining to negotiations for the next contract year.”
“Teachers take this action with thoughtfulness and sadness,” Brock said in a statement she read to reporters. “We are acutely aware that a strike is disruptive for students, families and for the community. But we can no longer stand by and allow the school board to continue to demean us, to disrespect us, to devalue us and the teaching profession.”
The school board was scheduled to meet Thursday night at Edmunds Middle School. Brock planned to attend and to read the statement during the public comment period.
Later Thursday, the board issued a statement, saying it’s “very disappointed” in the strike vote after the board made a “reasonable and fair” final offer.
“It is unfortunate that teachers feel that an average salary increase of over $1,900 — almost three times the cost of living — is somehow unfair and disrespectful,” the statement reads. “We hope the teachers will reevaluate their decision to threaten to strike and not disrupt the education of the city’s children.”
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Teacher’s Union to Burlington Students, Parents & Taxpayers:
GIMMIE another $400 /yr, on top of the $1,900 you already did, or we are going to trash your schools and leave your students on the sidewalk. How are we supposed to get by on $74,000+ /yr??
Rationally speaking, the school board is right that their offer is more than fair.
Emotionally-speaking, however, the school board has completely undermined their own credibility by choosing to play by one set of rules for themselves and the Superintendent; and expect another set of rules for the teachers. You cannot hire a Superintendent who lies to the entire community that he is going to comply with the law and live in Burlington and then stand by while he and his family move to South Burlington. You cannot hire a Superintendent on the basis of one immigration visa; and then when that is denied because he isn’t qualified, game the system with a fraudulent visa that pretends the reason he came to the US was to be professor at UVM and not Superintendent. The School Board stood by the Superintendent through all of this. They say it is OK that the Superintendent and his family live by one set of rules different from the rest of us, while he makes decisions that impact Burlington’s children but not his own.
In spite of the voters overwhelmingly rejecting attempts to eliminate the residency requirement for city leaders (defeated at the ballot box twice in the last 15 years), the Mayor and majority City Council then shamefully amend the law to pretend that living anywhere within the borders of Chittenden County is the same as living in Burlington city limits! I dare say the rest of Chittenden County might disagree. . .
For this incredible double-standard and this constant work-around of the will of the voters, the School Board, the majority of City Council (Max Tracy notwithstanding), and the Mayor have all lost my trust. The teachers, on the other hand, who are there, day-in and day-out, dealing with the unfunded mandates and the impacts of do-gooders and private profit seekers alike, retain my trust.
I strongly support the school board and hope they stand firm against the bullying and greedy union demands. teachers salaries and benefits have become outrageous to the point that people don’t believe our teachers are making six-figure salaries. Yes, they are! People cannot imagine the average teacher salary in Burlington is over $70,000 per year. Yes it is! It is unimaginable that the generosity of Burlington taxpayers has permitted this incredible inequity. Enough is enough!
Teachers could care less about bankrupting their community. Please fire these overpaid ingrates, I don’t want greedy opportunists influencing or teaching my children. Teachers work fewer hours than any other profession. Teachers benefits are obscene in this economy. Most of us work nights and weekends all year long for much less remuneration. Teachers have taken advantage of goodhearted taxpayers for too long. I will always vote NO on future school budgets that include teacher raises. Enough is enough.
Go read the master agreement. It is online. Teachers do not have an average salary of $74, $70, or any other number I’ve seen posted.
Mark Lade, you are flat out wrong. See if for yourself here: http://district.bsd.schoolfusion.us/module…
See Page 7.
Burlington School teacher’s median pay for FY16 was $71,624 + $1,900 average salary increase for FY17 = $73,524/yr for 9 months of work. That is equivalent to a 12 month salary of $98,000+.
Just stickin’ to the facts . .
Go here and do a little independent thinking. Page 61.
http://www.nctq.org/docs/Teachers_-_Burlin…
There is no way the average teacher has 11 years of service and a BA +51.
Mark Lade, spreading disinformation does not help your cause. The average teacher salary over $71,000/year is a fact that has been widely reported and fact checked and is undisputed by the teachers, their union, and the school board. That the top-tier teachers in Burlington earn over $100,000 again is a fact that has been widely reported and is undisputed. It is unfortunate that there are people like you who think simply stating untruths will gain traction among a uninformed segment of the population.
Still, the vast majority of people appreciate good reporters and facts. Teachers and their supporters like you cannot hide from the facts, which is why so many voters are fed up and have put an end to overly generous support. The school board is thankfully standing its ground and there is a large segment of the community who have their backs! Teachers earn vastly more than most of us and taxpayers are done coping with their endless greed!
My post is as factual as anything you have posted. Using the median for average really only shows there are some overpaid Canadian administrators, for example, that raise the middle number and skew the public’s perception of teacher salaries. Look at the actual pay chart and tell me some of the newer teacher’s are vastly overpaid.
Furthermore, if your answer to having a job that does not meet the standard of living is to lower everyone else’s pay, there is something wrong.
Everyone has access to the Burlington Annual report that lists all employees of the School districts and their annual salary. Instead of saying no way it can be x or y, why not do your own analysis and then see. Also remember the unseen costs of benefits which can add more than $20,000 per year per employee to what is required for revenues.
Tax dollars should not go to education for our kids. They should go toward giant malls so the children can have janitor and parking lot attendant jobs when the schools fail them.
Julie Green get your facts straight…I WAS a top paid teacher in the BSD last year and I can assure you that you are over $16,000 off on your estimation. There are many administrators that make over $100,000, so perhaps that’s where your confusion comes in. BTW I have a doctoral degree and 32 years of experience. No…I don’t think that was too much money for that level of education, experience and hard work. The BSD teachers get paid less than the teachers in Essex, South Burlington, Chittenden East or Chittenden South. Let’s remember, they were PROMISED in a legal contract, that they would reach the middle of the middle for pay scale for Chittenden County. The board has reneged on that promise. They do not want to strike, but they have been left no choice. The independent fact finder found with the teachers and the board ignored it and imposed a contract. The level of misinformation that has been propagated throughout the community has truly muddied (and poisoned) the discussion.
Beth Brodie: you appear to be acting out in anger, not rationality. Your prior contract, that the NEA negotiated, spoke of paying teachers the “middle of the middle” but that contract is over. The BEA took a harsh, take no prisoners approach to the proposed contract and the school board could not accommodate their demands within the very real constraints on their budget. Yet they still delivered a pay rate which is above the “middle of the middle.”
Are you upset that the administrators that have to deal with you get paid for doing so? By your own admission you are paid more than most teachers in the county. The independent fact finder did not have to balance the school’s district’s budget. Tell us, without all the dramatic outrage: What is so unfair about the school board’s proposal? You have no choice to strike? . . Why? The BEA says it’s not about money . . it is ego? Do you want to trash the education system in Burlington until someone will give you some little gold stars on your forehead?
Folks: “average” and “median” are not synonymous.
Holy cow, it seems like the unfortunate tactics pervading the national election are trickling down into Burlington. Teachers here are very highly paid compared to the taxpayers who fund their salaries. Instead of arguing about the $109,000 top teacher salary, why not own it and tell us why you think it’s not fair or not enough.
I see one teacher is upset that there are teachers living in other communities who earn more than $109,000. That is a valid argument. Burlington teachers don’t want other teachers to make more than they do. As a Burlington taxpayer, I disagree. I’m upset that taxpayers in other communities pay less than I do toward teacher salaries.
I think it’s perfectly fair if Burlington teachers are not the highest paid teachers in the state. Others are free to disagree. Vermont is rather notorious for how much we pay to educate students because we think that’s a good and important use of our money. It’s fine that teachers are upset it’s not more, but it’s equally as fine that as a taxpayer who pays them, I am upset that it’s too much. Neither side is bad or evil here.
Beth Brodie, sincerest apologies and I am happy to issue a retraction and correction: One of Burlington’s top teachers did not earn $109,000, she only earned $93,000 last year.