The School Committee knows this has felt like a long negotiations
process, and that many community members and educators want to see negotiations
resolved. We do too. We hope this update provides a clear sense of the current
status as well as the broader context within which we are all working.
Negotiating employee contracts that are fair to staff and responsible
to the community is a shared responsibility of both the Brookline School
Committee and the leaders of the employee unions. The School Committee’s top
priority is an excellent education for every student, and we are grateful that
Brookline residents have been willing to support our teachers and staff at high
levels to help us reach that goal. We are proud that our average teacher salary
is the 5th highest in Massachusetts for K-12 school districts[i], and
that the Town pays a very high share of employee healthcare costs (82%)
compared to peer districts. We recognize that our valuable paraprofessionals
have not been paid competitive wages in recent years, so since the summer of
2015, increasing pay for paraprofessionals has been a priority on both sides of
the negotiating table.
We are pleased to report that as of last month, five of our six
collective bargaining contracts have been settled. The School Committee reached
an agreement with the Brookline Educators Union (BEU) on the teachers’ contract
last September, more than five months ago. Last month we reached agreement with
the BEU for educational leaders/administrators. We have negotiated and signed contracts
for building maintenance and food service workers with AFSCME, and these have
been approved by their membership. We have agreed to and signed a new contract
for secretaries with the AFSCME–BESA Unit that was approved promptly. Although
mediation for paraprofessionals between the BEU and the School Committee
resulted in a mediator declaring impasse last fall, the two sides have
continued to discuss this contract regularly in an effort to reach agreement.
The School Committee values the contributions of all of the Public
Schools of Brookline’s staff including paraprofessionals. We recognize the
educational, physical, and emotional support paraprofessionals provide to our
students on a daily basis. We respectfully extended public comment period at multiple
School Committee meetings, and listened closely to the input of dozens of
teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents, allowing everyone who wished to speak
the opportunity to do so. All of the School Committee’s offers to the BEU have
included significant wage increases for paraprofessionals. By acknowledging and
agreeing to more competitive pay rates, the School Committee is demonstrating
the commitment we have long expressed to increased retention and satisfaction
for paraprofessionals.
There are also competing imperatives and constraints. Student
enrollment in our elementary schools has already increased more than 35% since
2005, which has put historic burdens on the budget and impaired our ability to
achieve our goals. The still-growing student population continues to put
pressure on our school budget; the proposed FY2018 budget includes a projected
$1.3 million deficit that we must balance. Despite passage of a substantial
three-year tax override in 2015, because of ongoing enrollment increases, the expansion
of Brookline High School, and the construction of a ninth elementary school, we
will need debt exclusions and an operating override to deal with the structural
deficit. At the same time, we are mindful that preserving the economic
diversity of residents helps make Brookline great; at some point
overrides—which translate into tax increases—will threaten that diversity.
The members of the Brookline School Committee have worked very, very
hard to keep our promise to voters to hold our FY 2016, FY2017, and FY2018
budgets within the limits of the funds provided by the 2015 override.
Specifically, during that override campaign, we promised to limit compensation
increases to an average pool of 2% annual wage increases and 3% annual steps
and lanes increases—for a total of roughly 5% annual increases. We were
grateful that BEU leaders literally campaigned side by side with School
Committee members to pass the 2015 override against a well organized “No”
campaign.
Unfortunately, recent negotiations on the paraprofessional contract
have been frustrating. Despite fulfilling the promises to voters outlined
above, and despite the School Committee’s offers of significant pay increases
for paraprofessionals, the BEU has consistently demanded increases far in excess
of those we jointly fought for in the last override. Despite the BEU’s claims,
the hourly pay of paraprofessionals already exceeds Brookline’s defined
standard for a livable wage, which is $13.71 per hour. Under the existing
contract, a first year paraprofessional in Brookline earns $16.04 per hour.
This means that the School Committee’s offer for paraprofessionals already
fulfills Brookline’s livable hourly wage by-law, and again, the School
Committee has repeatedly offered pay increases well above this amount going
forward.
It is important to understand that in all school districts, including
in Brookline, paraprofessional positions are not full-time, full-year
positions. The actual pay of a first year paraprofessional who works 6.33 hours
a day for 189 days (the current standard) is now $19,189, which the BEU and the
School Committee agree is insufficient and negatively affects retention. The
School Committee has proposed increases in hourly rates and increases in
standard hours that would raise annual pay for this first year paraprofessional
to $23,946—a 25% increase. The School Committee-proposed salary increases of
between 20% and 36% over a four-year period are significant, and evidence a
meaningful and good faith effort by the School Committee to address the
concerns of our staff. The BEU has consistently turned down this offer.
The School Committee is prohibited from deficit spending, so all of
these increases must be offset by reductions elsewhere. As an example, in
FY2018 the Superintendent is recommending deferred student technology purchases
and a 10% across the board cut in supply budgets, among other reductions.
We are one town, and our budget compromises need to be collaborative
and work for very diverse constituents. We hope that an agreement on our last
remaining contract can be reached prior to the next phase of
negotiations—mediator ordered fact-finding—which will commence on March 10. We
also hope that all actions that negatively impact our children and their
education will cease, as we all continue to work hard together to resolve the
final elements of the last remaining contract. We need to come together as a
community to have a shared focus on our students’ best interests, and on the
challenges we all face in supporting excellence in education as we respond to
the extraordinary growth in our schools.
The School
Committee’s November 2016 offer to the BEU included wage increases that would
raise paraprofessional salaries as follows by September 2017 (FY2018)
|
Existing Contract Annualized Pay in
SY2016-2017 (FY17)*
|
School Committee Proposal
Annualized Pay in School Year 2017-2018 (FY18)**
|
School Committee Proposal
% Increase between 2016 and 2018
|
1st Year classroom
paraprofessionals
|
$19,189
|
$23,647
|
25%
|
Most experienced classroom paraprofessionals
(top step) ***
|
$24,932
|
$29,820
|
20%
|
1st year specialized program
paraprofessionals
|
$19,189
|
$25,269
|
36%
|
Most experienced specialized program
paraprofessionals
(top step) ***
|
$24,932
|
$31,143
|
25%
|
[i]
Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education,
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/teachersalaries.aspx?mode=&year=2015&orderBy=AVERAGE%20DESC