Even before new contract, borough teachers highly paid

By Callum Borchers, Editor

 

NAUGATUCK — An arbitration panel was to announce its decision on the proposed Naugatuck teachers’ contract Wednesday, but regardless of the outcome, borough educators are already in elite financial company.

 

A Citizen’s News examination of salary data provided by the state Department of Education reveals during the 2007-08 school year, the average Naugatuck teacher earned $66,774 — slightly more than the average teacher in affluent communities like Cheshire, Farmington, Glastonbury, Simsbury and South Windsor.

 

The Department of Education uses a classification system, known as district reference groups, to categorize public school systems by their students’ socioeconomic statuses. DRGs take into account such factors as family income, parental education and occupation, and poverty rates. The groups range from A (most affluent) to I.

 

Each of the five towns listed above is a member of DRG B, in which the median family income is $97,210, 59.5 percent of parents hold a college degree, and 3.7 percent of children live in poverty. Naugatuck is a member of DRG G, in which the median family income is $53,931, 20.6 percent of parents hold a college degree, and 31 percent of children live in poverty.

 

Does it make sense that the borough pays its teachers as well or better than these wealthier districts?

 

“That’s a tough question,” Naugatuck Mayor Mike Bronko said. “I just have to say that Naugatuck’s teachers are some of the finest in the state.”

 

“I’m a little surprised [by the numbers],” admitted Naugatuck Board of Education Chair Kathleen Donovan. “But those salaries have allowed us to recruit better teachers.”

 

Among neighboring public school districts in the Naugatuck Valley League, the borough’s average salary in 2007-08 was $5,643 more than the second-highest-paid district, Watertown, and $7,258 more than the NVL average. And of the 17 school systems in DRG G, Naugatuck paid more than all but three; its average salary was $4,162 more than the group G average.

 

One reason Naugatuck’s average salary is comparably high is that 57 percent of its teachers are at the maximum step, meaning they are at the top of the pay scale because of their education and experience levels.

 

“You can’t really go by the average salary because Naugatuck has a lot of teachers on the max step,” said attorney Roseann Padula, who was the borough’s chief legal counsel during contract arbitration. “That skews the data.”

 

Donovan echoed Padula’s analysis, adding “I don’t think we generally pay higher than other [nearby] towns.”

 

Education officials in those nearby towns were reluctant to comment on Naugatuck’s teacher spending. Torrington Board of Education Chairman Paul Cavagnero, whose town is a member of both the NVL and DRG G, gave a diplomatic, “You won’t get me on the record throwing mud at another BOE.”

 

Torrington’s average teacher salary was $7,188 less than Naugatuck’s in 2007-08.

 

Wolcott Board of Education business manager Todd Bendtsen, who negotiated that town’s four-year teachers’ contract two years ago, didn’t share an opinion of Naugatuck’s spending either. But he did discuss the numbers on which Wolcott’s salaries are based.

 

“Typically, we look at averages for the area and the state,” Bendtsen said. “We also look at DRG F [of which Wolcott is a member] and use that as a barometer.”

 

Wolcott paid its teachers an average of $57,853 in 2007-08.

 

Bendtsen added there are some numbers that do not factor in to teacher salaries — namely, standardized test scores. Bronko said he agrees it would be unfair to pay teachers according to student performance on the Connecticut Mastery Test and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test.

 

“I can’t say they should be paid on scores, no,” Bronko said.

 

That’s a good thing for borough educators, since the district failed to meet federal No Child Left Behind goals in six straight academic years from 2001-02 to 2006-07. Naugatuck Public Schools did satisfy NCLB requirements in 2007-08, but five of the district’s 11 schools remain on the state Department of Education’s “in need of improvement list.”

 

No matter what other towns pay or how borough students fare on standardized tests, Naugatuck High School Principal Fran Serratore believes teachers’ wages are well-earned.

 

“Let me tell you something, our teachers deserve every penny,” he said.

 

Burgess Robert Neth, who voted against the proposed teachers’ contract in January, says that may be true, but taxpayers can’t afford a penny more.

 

“You’ve got to be out of your mind to want a raise right now,” Neth said. “I’ve been either on the finance board or a burgess for 20 years, and I don’t ever recall teachers taking a zero [increase]….I’m not saying teachers don’t deserve a raise, but now is not the time.”

Region 16 BOE hopes to pass 2009-10 budget on first try

By Jenna Gaillard, Staff Writer

 

 

BEACON FALLS — The Region 16 Board of Education kicked of 2009-10 budget talks last Wednesday at Laurel Ledge Elementary School. Many topics were discussed at the first budget workshop session on the proposed $36.5 million budget, which is up 1.46 percent from the current year’s budget.

 

According to Region 16 Superintendent of Schools James Agostine, the proposed budget is a “collective effort” between himself and business manager William Stowell.

 

School administrators submitted budget requests to Agostine and Stowell between October and December. Agostine said he and Stowell examined the requests, asked questions and “whittled away at things” during January and February.

 

According to Agostine, they “peeled away about $1.2 million worth of budget requests” to get to get the proposed increase down to 1.46 percent. Stowell called the 1.46 percent increase “a good thing to go forward with.”

 

During the budget workshop session, Agostine suggested the board not replace three teachers who are retiring this year (two from Laurel Ledge and one from Community School). Leaving these positions vacant could mean cutting some elective classes. Agostine said the retirement of one of the teachers may result in the elimination of a language arts elective.

 

“Because we’ve taken the $1.2 million and gone to the next tier of cuts, [we] have to go to program eliminations,” Agostine said.

 

According to BOE member Priscilla Cretella, the board doesn’t want this to happen because class sizes will increase, and some English writing classes will have to be eliminated.

 

At the budget workshop session, Beacon Falls Selectman Michael A. Krenesky urged the BOE to “look at today’s budget and begin your cutbacks now.”

 

“There are nickels and dimes in multiple places you can cut…” Krenesky said. “I know how hard it hurts and how difficult it is to make that decision…it is time for bold action, not just sitting back and letting the status quo go on.”

 

At one point, the board considered a zero percent increase for the new budget, but a vote soon removed that possibility. One BOE member said he would like to see a zero percent increase but such a move is not “realistic.”

According to Cretella, the board has only four weeks to finalize the budget.

 

“We need to pass this budget on the first try; we’re under a timeline,” Cretella advised the board.

 

Last year voters in Prospect and Beacon Falls finally passed a $35.94 million school budget on the third referendum.

 

After much discussion at last Wednesday’s budget workshop session, the board decided Agostine will draft a letter to the teachers, administrators and support staff unions to “formally request and seek contractual concessions to assist in reducing the budget.”

 

Cretella said each of the three unions will decide if it is willing to make unspecified concessions to help reduce the proposed budget.

 

“[We’re] actually asking them that we’re looking for some monetary giveback without hurting classrooms or reduce teachers’ class sizes,” Cretella said.

 

Agostine added the motion directed him to “ask for contractual concessions” from union leaders and to meet with them to “fill them in on what the board was thinking when they passed the resolution.” According to Agostine, the requested contractual concessions could be pay freezes or any type of concession that has a monetary impact.

 

Agostine’s letter to the three union leaders was sent out last Thursday.