If you are wondering how this afternoon’s vote by the membership of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association on wage and/or benefit concessions had even the slightest chance of ever taking place, you have to pay attention to a real but rather non-obvious source.
Keep in mind that as recently as on the night of March 23rd in the auditorium at the Middle School in Bridgewater, the head of the teachers’, secretaries’ and custodians’ association had clearly acknowledged before the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education that he “will not accept what has been proposed” by the B-R BOE.
What happened between then and now to make the union leadership change its collective mind? Easy: Very worried and angry parents with children in the B-R School District.
An informal network of parents and individual teachers who felt left out of the process quickly coalesced behind the scenes into an influence that the combined strength of local and state (NJEA) representation could not contain.
Famed Harvard economist J. K. Galbraith once explained this phenomenon. He wrote that when one side in a situation exercises undue influence, there often arises an equally forceful and opposing element. He called this phenomenon countervailing power.
This afternoon, the BREA membership will vote on concessions. Whether that vote is for or against the proposal before it, the entire Bridgewater and Raritan communities will have observed the effect of that countervailing force in action.
At least for this one moment in time, a determined network of parents and individual teachers made their voices loud enough to compel them to be effectively heard.
Showing posts with label B-R Education Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B-R Education Association. Show all posts
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Tentative Agreement Reached with BREA
Friday night, at a special session of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at the High School auditorium, Board President Jeffrey Brookner disclosed that a provisional agreement had been reached with representatives of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association on wage and/or benefits concessions.
Mr. Brookner stated that the Board Negotiations Team and BREA representatives had reached this agreement only about an hour before the start of the public meeting. It calls for employees of the association to give up $1.4 million in concessions, in exchange for the Board’s reinstating of a like amount of budget cuts in the form of positions and program restorations.
Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder described to the audience where these job and program restorations would tentatively be made in the budget. Representatives of the BREA have not yet identified the nature of the $1.4M in givebacks.
This provisional agreement needs to be ratified by the membership of the BREA before the Board of Education can act upon it. A ratification meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 29th at 4 PM in the High School auditorium, where the membership will be presented with the details.
On Wednesday, March 31st, at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, the Board of Education will meet at 8:00 AM to vote on a final budget. The meeting will be short, as the Board is expected to take a straight up or down vote.
Mr. Brookner stated that the Board Negotiations Team and BREA representatives had reached this agreement only about an hour before the start of the public meeting. It calls for employees of the association to give up $1.4 million in concessions, in exchange for the Board’s reinstating of a like amount of budget cuts in the form of positions and program restorations.
Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder described to the audience where these job and program restorations would tentatively be made in the budget. Representatives of the BREA have not yet identified the nature of the $1.4M in givebacks.
This provisional agreement needs to be ratified by the membership of the BREA before the Board of Education can act upon it. A ratification meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 29th at 4 PM in the High School auditorium, where the membership will be presented with the details.
On Wednesday, March 31st, at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, the Board of Education will meet at 8:00 AM to vote on a final budget. The meeting will be short, as the Board is expected to take a straight up or down vote.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
BREA Members Authorize Talks with B-R BOE
Today, the membership of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association voted to authorize its leadership to meet with the Negotiations Team of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education for the purpose of re-opening contract talks.
If there is still time to agree and to make changes, this will be a last-minute deal that should, if it comes out right, have a better-than-currently-envisioned impact on the level of the 2010/2011 expense budget of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, its employees, and Bridgewater-Raritan taxpayers.
But nothing is over until it’s over.
The timeline is now extremely tight because, as previously mentioned, the B-R BOE is scheduled to vote on a final budget tomorrow evening for submission to the County Superintendent early next week.
Folding last-minute changes into a budget of this size and complexity – unless they are minor – will require a major push by the School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, should an agreement be reached.
Maybe this comes under the practice of getting everyone into a room and not letting anybody out until a consensus is reached.
If there is still time to agree and to make changes, this will be a last-minute deal that should, if it comes out right, have a better-than-currently-envisioned impact on the level of the 2010/2011 expense budget of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, its employees, and Bridgewater-Raritan taxpayers.
But nothing is over until it’s over.
The timeline is now extremely tight because, as previously mentioned, the B-R BOE is scheduled to vote on a final budget tomorrow evening for submission to the County Superintendent early next week.
Folding last-minute changes into a budget of this size and complexity – unless they are minor – will require a major push by the School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, should an agreement be reached.
Maybe this comes under the practice of getting everyone into a room and not letting anybody out until a consensus is reached.
Wage Concessions Update for B-R Schools
Sometime subsequent to Tuesday’s meeting of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at the Middle School and the posting of this brief message, representatives of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association decided to poll its association membership for authority to re-enter negotiations with the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education.
Time is extraordinarily short for a decision, because the B-R BOE has to finalize a budget and vote on it by tomorrow evening. The final budget needs to be submitted to Trudy Doyle, the County Superintendent of Schools early next week.
I don’t know if the voting is complete (it should be by now), what the results are, or if an offer has been presented to the B-R BOE Negotiations Team. Or whether time has run out.
If the BREA membership authorized its leadership to proffer an offer, chances are very high that it now sits before Board of Education representatives for consideration and subsequent inclusion into the budget process.
Time is extraordinarily short for a decision, because the B-R BOE has to finalize a budget and vote on it by tomorrow evening. The final budget needs to be submitted to Trudy Doyle, the County Superintendent of Schools early next week.
I don’t know if the voting is complete (it should be by now), what the results are, or if an offer has been presented to the B-R BOE Negotiations Team. Or whether time has run out.
If the BREA membership authorized its leadership to proffer an offer, chances are very high that it now sits before Board of Education representatives for consideration and subsequent inclusion into the budget process.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Schools’ Union Chief Rejects Wage Concessions
After weeks of successfully asking to be admitted into the budgeting process with the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board, Mr. Steve Beatty, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association revealed last night that he refused to take the Board’s offer to his membership for a vote.
The B-R BOE had requested the BREA to “reduce its scheduled raise from 4.35% to 2%, and to forgo $403,000 worth of tuition reimbursements.” In exchange, the B-R BOE “offered to submit a budget calling for a $1.7 million tax-levy increase beyond the 4% cap.”
The Board had further committed that the resultant savings would be applied to the last round of budget cuts. The effect of this, according to a statement by B-R BOE President, Jeffrey Brookner, is that it would give “the teachers’ union the opportunity to save over $3 million worth of teacher jobs in exchange for givebacks worth approximately $1.7 million.”
No deal!
Instead, Mr. Beatty addressed the School Board at the Middle School last night, acknowledging that he “felt awful when he left school Friday,” and that he had been ”flip-flopping about it on Saturday.” (The B-R BOE Negotiations Team and school bargaining units had met on Saturday.)
Emphasizing that he would not accept what had been proposed, Mr. Beatty claimed that the “teachers would be losing $1800 per year, a grossly disproportionate burden on the back of the staff,” while taxpayers would be asked to shoulder only a $288 tax increase. (These numbers have not been verified by the B-R BOE.)
He went on to say that “It is a band aid and would not save Tier 3 cuts.” He confirmed that although he “accepts it in principle” (the Board’s proposal), he “does not agree with the math.”
Mr. Beatty claimed that “it is a bargain for the taxpayers,” and that the B-R BOE “is more concerned with the Town Council.” (This is because, should the budget be defeated on April 20th, it would be remanded to the municipalities of Bridgewater and Raritan for resolution.)
The BREA Chief affirmed that he was “ready right now” to “personally” go with an “offer that is fair and right . . . so don’t tell me that I am unreasonable.” He concluded with, “I will suffer the slings and arrows and hold my head up high.”
Later, in response, Mr. Brookner explained why the B-R BOE could not accept the BREA’s plea to pass on all cuts to due to the loss of state aid to the residents of Bridgewater and Raritan. Probably the most notable of his comments is, “A tax levy of 7% (or more) would go down in a blazing ball of glory.”
The B-R BOE had requested the BREA to “reduce its scheduled raise from 4.35% to 2%, and to forgo $403,000 worth of tuition reimbursements.” In exchange, the B-R BOE “offered to submit a budget calling for a $1.7 million tax-levy increase beyond the 4% cap.”
The Board had further committed that the resultant savings would be applied to the last round of budget cuts. The effect of this, according to a statement by B-R BOE President, Jeffrey Brookner, is that it would give “the teachers’ union the opportunity to save over $3 million worth of teacher jobs in exchange for givebacks worth approximately $1.7 million.”
No deal!
Instead, Mr. Beatty addressed the School Board at the Middle School last night, acknowledging that he “felt awful when he left school Friday,” and that he had been ”flip-flopping about it on Saturday.” (The B-R BOE Negotiations Team and school bargaining units had met on Saturday.)
Emphasizing that he would not accept what had been proposed, Mr. Beatty claimed that the “teachers would be losing $1800 per year, a grossly disproportionate burden on the back of the staff,” while taxpayers would be asked to shoulder only a $288 tax increase. (These numbers have not been verified by the B-R BOE.)
He went on to say that “It is a band aid and would not save Tier 3 cuts.” He confirmed that although he “accepts it in principle” (the Board’s proposal), he “does not agree with the math.”
Mr. Beatty claimed that “it is a bargain for the taxpayers,” and that the B-R BOE “is more concerned with the Town Council.” (This is because, should the budget be defeated on April 20th, it would be remanded to the municipalities of Bridgewater and Raritan for resolution.)
The BREA Chief affirmed that he was “ready right now” to “personally” go with an “offer that is fair and right . . . so don’t tell me that I am unreasonable.” He concluded with, “I will suffer the slings and arrows and hold my head up high.”
Later, in response, Mr. Brookner explained why the B-R BOE could not accept the BREA’s plea to pass on all cuts to due to the loss of state aid to the residents of Bridgewater and Raritan. Probably the most notable of his comments is, “A tax levy of 7% (or more) would go down in a blazing ball of glory.”
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