To The Editor,
Once again, Keith Knauss gets it wrong.
At the May 18 School Board meeting, Mr. Knauss stated that the Teachers’ Association is proposing an 4.6% increase in “payroll” each year, as compared to the 2.1% being offered by the Board.
Check it out yourself on the Board Video, at time marker 1:35:35. http://youtu.be/Vh4-P1hNDEs
The documents given to me by the Board negotiating team clearly state that the 4.6% includes increases in salaries PLUS other things the Board calls “compensation.” Will Mr. Knauss retract his statement publicly in this forum as well as to his constituents? We hope so. But the damage is done.
What damage?
The inaccuracies and missteps damage Mr. Knauss’s reputation.
The inaccuracies and missteps damage the transparency the board claims to value.
The inaccuracies and missteps damage labor relations and our progress toward a contract settlement.
The inaccuracies and missteps damage teacher morale.
The inaccuracies and missteps damage the community’s understanding of the situation, and therefore its ability to guide the Board in its wishes.
UCFEA has asked the Board repeatedly to speak in terms of salary and not “total compensation” to avoid just this kind of confusion. Mr. Knauss’s misstatement is the ultimate proof that this concept leads to miscommunication. As chair of the Board’s finance committee, as a “numbers guy”, as a bargaining team member, even Mr. Knauss got it wrong — in public — with his notes in front of him — when he knew he was going on record. How often is this same mistake being perpetuated? How much misinformation is out there due to this confusion over “total compensation”? How many community members are trusting these numbers? How many Board members are getting a skewed sampling of their constituents’ wishes?
So, what ARE the teachers asking for?
Using the Board’s method of projecting costs, the Association’s proposal asks for a 2.4% salary increase next year. The Board is offering 0.02% in salaries. Let’s stick to straight talk.
Anita L. Quinn
Chief Negotiator, Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Association
Proud Educator of 25 years, without a raise since 2012
Again, the leadership of the education association will do anything to divert attention away from their excessive compensation demands. This time it’s the chief negotiator for the Education Association Ms. Quinn.
My statement at the May 18th board meeting is correct and Ms. Quinn needs an accounting lesson on two fronts.
One, Ms. Quinn has used a narrow definition of “payroll” in an effort to create a “tempest in a teapot”. From an employee’s viewpoint such as Ms. Quinn’s, the definition of “payroll” only includes what is in a paystub. But from an employer’s viewpoint “payroll” is defined as all costs associated with maintaining employees or compensation. See the two definitions below mentioning compensation.
Two, the district is offering salary increases averaging 1.7% each year for 4 years. The Education Association (union) is asking for 4% salary increases each year for 3 years. Not 0.02% and 2.4% respectively as Ms. Quinn asserts. May I suggest Ms. Quinn talk to our business manager Mr. Cochran to get the correct information?
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I’ll not feign damage created by Ms. Quinn’s misstatements. Let’s just call it two honest mistakes on her part and move on to honest bargaining. For a detailed explanation of contract progress and a response to many of the Education Associations concerns see:
http://teacher-contract-2015.blogspot.com/2015/05/board-negotiations-team-response-to.html
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Here are two sites that talk about payroll from an employer’s viewpoint.
“The sum total of all compensation that a business must pay to its employees for a set period of time or on a given date.”
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/payroll.asp
“The accounting for payroll involves all aspects of paying compensation and benefits to employees.”
http://www.accountingtools.com/payroll-accounting
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Keith, Not referring to anything but your comment, “excessive compensation demands” How can you refer to the education association having “excessive compensation demands” when you reward Administrators with triple and quadruple the increase in their salaries compared to what the teachers say they are asking for?
Many leaders in the private sector have taken salary reductions or forgone salary increases, You have budgeted another 8% increase in your compensation on the top of the most generous compensation packages for an Assistant Supt. in PA. The Supt. also received a very generous increase in his pay.
How do you justify stating to the education association that “they will do anything to divert attention away from their excessive compensation demands,” when you have just allowed massive increases for Admin. pay?
I normally don’t respond to anonymous posters, but the question of Mr. Batchelor’s 8% salary increase keeps popping up. Let me put this in a Q & A format.
Q: The Board is only offering the teachers an average 1.7% salary increase, but gave Mr. Batchelor an 8% increase. Isn’t this unusual?
A: No. Individual teachers have received increases this year above 8%. In fact, over 30 teachers fall into this category.
Q: What prompted the Board to give Mr. Batchelor an 8% raise?
A: It’s a combination of reward for past performance and extra pay because he assumed the additional responsibility of being the Personnel Director. This is similar to the situation where teachers get a multi-thousand dollar bump in salary when they assume the responsibility of a “supplemental”.
Q: The Board only mentioned Mr. Batchelor’s salary increase. Why didn’t the Board also mention the compensation increase?
A: By law, every employee’s salary is publicly available. If you ask, the district will provide a list of salaries for every employee. However, the district, by law (HIPAA) cannot provide an INDIVIDUAL’S compensation because it would reveal healthcare choices. The Board can talk about compensation for a group (e.g. teachers, support staff, administrators) because no one’s healthcare choices are revealed.
What do you say to resident claims that,
“they expressed concern over being rated ninth and tenth for teacher salaries’ rankings out of 13 top rated school districts.”
There is an Assit. Supt. raking in $193,000 per year. That has got to be at the very top in admin Salary rankings out of the 13 top rated school districts. Some Supt. don’t make that much money. A $15,000 per year raise? Astonishing, especially when your in this type of negotiation with the Education Association.
Barb,
Come into the Sunshine and I’ll answer your questions. I hope you have the courage to identify yourself.
Easy for you to say Keith, you have all the power.
And just like you exercise that power as you see fit, by granting outlandish raises to administrators on top of their already over the top salaries- – who have limited contact with students, but not limited contact with you,- – I’m going to show my courage by exercising my right to post my comments following and respecting the rules and regulations of the UNionvilltimes.
If Mike has a problem with the way I post comments, he can address it with me or not post my comments.
This is one of those times where everyone is within their rights. Barb has made her points — and Keith Knauss has the right to decline to engage with someone who maintains their anonymity. Although of late some have abused this — not on this story or regarding this subject matter, but I had to ban a half dozen folks from posting comments this week — there is a rich American history of such anonymous comment, the best known of which was Ben Franklin, who published regularly under various nom de plumes. I’ll note that The Federalist Papers were written and published the same way.
So — again: Barb has every right to have her say, as long as she abides by the site’s Terms of Service (which she certainly has) and Keith has the right not to respond. This is just a small part of the rights we enjoy as part of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — and maybe even more fitting that we honor those who gave their all this weekend in defense of those and other special rights we Americans all enjoy.
I would suggest this, though: it’s going to be a lovely weekend. Get away from your computer screen, enjoy the sunshine and spend time with friends and family. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
Amen Mike, I will get away from my computer screen and spend time with friends, but right now, as every Saturday, I have to work to pay for Assist. Prin. Batchelor and others $193,000 salaries, plus PSSERS, plus all the rest. I’m not going to make more money in retirement than I make in my working years like him and other at District offices.
There is so much apathy out there, I am going to honor Ben Franklin and his peers this Memorial day weekend by exercising my right to free speech that they fought so hard for me to have, and post my comments on this site and others. We are so lucky to have the right to do that. I’m not taking a break – ever. And it is my deepest hope that others will do the same. Preserve the middle class! Pay attention! Get involved! Vote!
And as a P.S. I find it amusing when Keith says things like:
“Again, the leadership of the education association will do anything to divert attention away from their excessive compensation demands”
because he does the same thing when refusing to answer my questions and take responsibility for the massive pay hikes he grants administrators, using my screen identity as an excuse to divert attention away from answering my questions and taking responsibility.
Mr. Knauss,
You twist the very definitions you use to support your argument. You quote definitions that say payroll is funds paid “to employees” – not to the state, not to a federal agency, and not to a health care provider. Yet you include “all costs associated with maintaining employees or compensation.” If in some situations your definition is accepted, then so be it. But I stand by my assertion that your choice of words is misleading to the pubic.
Unfortunately, I cannot say I stand by the Board’s choice of assumptions and projections that are used to guide Mr. Cochran’s calculations. However, the numbers I quoted are taken directly from the Board’s handouts showing the two proposals for the year 2105-16. The Board’s proposal offers 0.02% in “total staff salary costs percentage change.” Nowhere do my documents say the Association is asking for 4% in salaries.
Anita L. Quinn
Chief Negotiator
Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Association
Proud educator of 25 years, without a raise since 2012
Anita,
Politicians, especially school board directors, manipulate data to suit their own agendas so they can influence citizens to support their initiatives, even if their arguments make no sense and can be easily disproved.
Local Politicians count on our apathy, they count on our fear, and they count on our ignorance.
That’s why it’s so important that citizens keep a bright shining light on everything they say and every vote they cast.