Thomas MacMillan File Photos
Will Clark, left, and Darnell Goldson, right.
A new contract between the city and the school administrators union will cost New Haven more than $300,000 extra over the next three years. That’s too much to pay during a time of deepening budget deficits, argued one alderman.
That didn’t stop his colleagues from approving the three-year collective bargaining agreement at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen.
Supporters hail the contract as paving the way for compromises in health care benefits — a driver of long-term structural budget deficits.
The contract, between School Administrators Association Local 18 and the Board of Education, involves a 0 percent wage increase the first year, followed by 1.5 percent increases each of the following two years. The contract includes an additional 1 percent wage increase in years two and three to pay for extra work caused by the implementation of New Haven ongoing school reform initiatives, said Will Clark, chief operating officer for the Board of Ed.
The contract covers about 125 principals, assistant principals, and supervisors in the district, Clark said. It will take effect July 1. For more background, see here.
Clark hailed the contract’s aldermanic approval. He said the pay increases are necessary in order for New Haven to remain competitive in hiring and retention of school principals.
The contract saves the city nearly $1 million over three years due to health care changes, according to Clark. However, the net result with the wage increases will be an added cost over three years of $299,777 to the city, said Alderman Yusuf Shah, the chair of the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee.
That’s unjustifiable at a time when the city faces a projected budget shortfall of — according to figures from the administration — between $8 million and $11 million in the current year and $52 million in the next year, said Alderman Goldson when he rose to speak against approving the contract.
“Somehow we continue to spend money,” he said. “There is not enough sacrifice in this contract.”
Goldson also spoke against the practice of handing out $10,000 bonuses to administrators who give six months’ notice before retiring.
“In the world I live in, you get a bonus when the company is doing well,” Goldson said. “Well, the company is not doing well.”
“Right now, everybody has to sacrifice,” he said. “Especially the highest paid employees in New Haven.”
No other aldermen rose to speak on the contract. It passed in a roll-call vote, 18 to six. Voting against it were Aldermen Mike Jones, Gina Calder, Michael Smart, Greg Morehead, Claudette Robinson-Thorpe, and Darnell Goldson. Alderwoman Katrina Jones, a Board of Education employee, abstained.
After the votes, Clark said he was pleased with the approval.
“We want to be the best urban school district in the United States,” he said. Talented local teachers and administrators could easily choose to work in neighboring towns, where they would not face the added duties, scrutiny and pressure of school reform, Clark said. The city needs to stay competitive by offering competitive salaries, he said.
Addressing Goldson’s complaints, Clark said, “You can’t have it both ways.” You can’t reform the district without bringing in — and retaining — the talent to make it happen, he said.
How do you give a raise for a failing system, and then cry we have no money. Mr Clark says its a trade off, for what, their long hours thats a joke my friend works at the high school on Mitchel drive and you can't find a principle after four pm, and during the day it looks like your at the MMilford-mall what a joke.