How will voters react to the Board of Education, with the support of Mayor Bill Finch, giving up home rule to the state? Will this stoke parents’ election interest? Do they feel blindsided? Or do they think it’s the right decision? Can the mayor frame this as a historic reform measure?
Finch, Superintendent of Schools John Ramos and the BOE are admitting they cannot make the school system work under the existing structure. Ramos wanted more money after several flatline budgets, Finch said no because he did not want to raise taxes in an election year and took the further step of cementing two years of job security for some school workers handcuffing Ramos from pink-slipping them to cut costs.
Finch campaigned on a platform to pump more dough into education, improve test scores, offer preschool to all students and lower classroom sizes. The mayor seemed to be tracking on an education message he could sell particularly with respect to a heralded regional science magnet school that appears headed for construction. What’s his education message to voters now? I’m thinking of the kids and turning schools over to the state is the best way to improve the system. How does he guarantee promises to folks in Black Rock, a high-voting area, such as improvements to Black Rock School if the state’s in control? How does that wash with his battle cry: Together we are making Bridgeport the cleanest, greenest, safest most affordable city, with schools and neighborhoods that improve each year.
Claiming he has no control over the BOE won’t wash. The mayor has the power to give the BOE more money, less money or the same money. The City Council votes on the mayor’s proposed budget and the mayor has strong veto power if he disagrees with the council’s budgetary decisions. The mayor also has influence over the selection of BOE candidates. But now the state’s in charge. Finch, however, has the opportunity to recast this state takevoer as a big, bold, historic reform initiative. “I didn’t become mayor to be popular. I’m mayor to do what’s right.” He cannot own this half way. He must own it completely as historic reform of the school system.
On the campaign trail Mary-Jane Foster says Superintendent of Schools John Ramos must go while John Gomes has expressed his support for the super. Most electors vote on the future and Foster and Gomes must stake out positions on how they’ll work with the school system and state if one becomes mayor. Pro-education voters will want to know what they will do.
Incumbents generally like to have a nice, quiet campaign season with no issue flareups. The BOE takeover is a messy issue. The good news for Finch is he’ll have plenty of money to make his case for reelection, much more than his primary opponents. This issue may force him to advance his campaign communications timetable with voters 10 weeks from a Democratic primary. Finch will also have an advantage if there’s a large primary field splitting up the anti-vote. If he gets past the primary Finch’s general election prospects look like a lock, unless a well-financed independent gets in the game. Paging Joe Ganim.
The former mayor appears to be seriously considering an independent run for mayor. He would simply need to secure 126 certified signatures as a petitioning candidate to place his name on the ballot in November, should he take that route. Will this education issue entice Joe to get in the game? If he does the general election will be noisy.
(Best Little Whorehouse in Bridgeport)
Mayor Finch’s Swan Song
Fellow Bridgeporters I am proudly standing here to humbly see.
I assure you, and I mean it–Now, who says I don’t speak out as plain as day?
And, fellow Bridgeporters, I’m for progress and the flag–long may it fly.
I’m a poor boy, come to greatness. So it follows that I cannot tell a lie.
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t–
I’ve come and gone, and ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Now my good friends, it behooves me to be solemn and declare,
I’m for goodness and for profit and for living clean and saying daily prayer.
And now, my good friends, you can sleep nights, I’ll continue to stand tall.
You can trust me, for I promise I shall keep a watchful eye upon y’all …
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t–
I’ve come and gone, and ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Now B.O.E., I don’t know them, though I’ve heard the name, oh yes.
But of course I’ve no close contact, so what they are doing I can only guess.
And now B.O.E. is a blemish on the face of that good town.
I am taking certain steps here, someone somewhere’s gonna have to close them down.
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t–
I’ve come and gone, and ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep …
And ooh I love to sweep around the wide step …
Cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=NJG75FJkjr8
That is some vintage shit, good job. Thanks for the posting.
Where is Paul Timpanelli and the BRBC on all this stuff? If I were a business person looking to bring my business to Bridgeport I would be having some real thoughts about the “dysfunction” as claimed by the mayor and his Dysfunctional Literates. Furthermore the deciding vote for takeover was cast by Trumbull Democrat Stephen Wright who was wrong on this issue. And if you don’t think his marching orders came from Nancy DiNardo you are a real Duh Nardo!
They are already talking about naming non-residents to the new Board of Education. Where do you think he stands?
Watch our property values plummet. If you had school-age kids, would you move here? I think NOT. I’m hearing many good teachers, guidance counselors and social workers are interviewing in other towns. It will take the BOE years to get back to any semblance of order–with or without the state oversight.
Look who’s calling the kettle black!
Finch called Herbst’s action terrible.
“I find it appalling and completely unconscionable that Tim Herbst would play politics with Trumbull’s children, Bridgeport’s children and the children of six other area towns,” he said. “This issue is about building a high school with 1,500 seats, nothing less and nothing more. This is the worst type of politicking — to think that anyone would even consider standing in the way of the future educational opportunities of our children for their own political gain.”
Read more: www .ctpost.com/local/article/Lawsuits-target-Bridgeport-magnet-school-1455366.php
Great catch!!! When I read the same Finch quote this morning I thought, put this statement in front of most people and they would never attribute it to Finch because of how they have seen his funding of BOE for the past three years. He has starved the BOE budget, perhaps to help shrink fat, but when the audit started one of the goals was to locate the “extra no-show or overpaid jobs” contained in the budget. That day of reckoning has been postponed for years. And Paul Timpanelli and his business representation apparently are willing to put up with delayed results even as they contribute funds. Crazy!
So Bill starves with one hand while extending his other hand to assist. His real goal is to control decisions and the rest of the BOE action that is today called “dysfunction” is a result of those behaviors carried out over his term.
Bill knows about building and renovation, because Bridgeport dollars, payable in the future as principal and interest payments by taxpayers, are still being spent today (including Stafstrom as TAN and Bond council). It is easier and a better photo op to stick a shovel in the ground, have some contractors and workers busy working and get a photo op at the finish too, without doing the heavy lifting of “educating” urban youth in a classroom setting.
Bill can stand in line for the: “HYPOCRISY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER” award.
Is it possible Finch is actually deaf to his own statements? That could possibly explain the disconnect between words and actions, just possibly.
Finch, Bellinger and Ramos Spin City!
Bridgeport’s students must come first. With this in mind, Bridgeport’s Board of Education has called for a state takeover of the school system.
The decision to request the state’s help has not come quickly or easily. But, despite everyone’s best efforts, the reality is that the current state of affairs is not serving Bridgeport students well.
The board has not been able to do its basic work nor provide a system of high-performing schools of the quality local students so rightly deserve. That is the reason the board’s decision to ask for assistance has the support of the mayor.
Given the state of our schools, the intervention by the state of Connecticut and the reconstitution of the local school board is a responsible and appropriate action, moving things forward in a positive manner.
It is our hope that when the state Board of Education takes action on this resolution, they consider appointing a reform-minded group that includes local representatives who have a stake in our children’s education.
The Bridgeport public schools currently are not adequately serving the needs of our students. Only one in four fourth-graders are reading at grade level, and 14 of our 30 elementary schools are among the worst schools in the state. The next highest city or town with failing schools is Hartford with three.
Surely, we all want to do better than that.
The current Board of Education has not been able to adequately impact student performance for the better, nor attend to other basic duties of running the school system.
A few recent examples include: The board has failed to pass a budget, and has failed to implement recommendations made in the Gibson Study that would have streamlined key functions within the school system and saved millions of dollars.
A newly constituted board will be the first step to ensure more action and accountability on behalf of our students and those who love them.
This is a critical time for the Bridgeport public schools and serious reform is essential. A state takeover is the right action to take; not a permanent fix, but a temporary breakthrough.
It is an opportunity we should seize, to do our best to make the most of this time and to build local capacity so that when the schools return to local control, we are better prepared to deliver on our promise to children. We ask your support and participation in being a part of this first step toward a new course of reform and change. We are confident that brighter days lie ahead for Bridgeport’s children.
Bill Finch, Mayor
Barbara Bellinger, President, Bridgeport Board of Education
John Ramos Sr., Bridgeport Schools Superintendent
Read more: www .ctpost.com/opinion/article/The-right-course-for-Bridgeport-schools-1455086.php
This is a Real PIP!
Expect Great Things! or Great Un-Expectations?
“The best-laid plans of mice and men so often go astray.”
*** CHANGE ISN’T ALWAYS WELCOMED, BUT SOMETIMES NEEDED ***
What’s next, Finch? Do you do a Mary Moran and file bankruptcy? And while you bankrupt the city, make sure to throw some bonus money around to your political hires. They have done such a great job of helping you destroy the City. Ganim was a crook, crooks can reform, Fabrizi had addiction issues, there are rehabs … There is no 12-step program for incompetence and greed, Mayor Moonbeam. There is no reform for a cuckold, space cadet and a 57-year-old inferiority complex. Hope you can find a lobbying job somewhere, because blowing smoke and lying through your teeth is the only thing you are fit for.
Doesn’t Fabrizi still get full pay also?
The BOE workers who Finch gave “job security” to are the people who actually work. They are NOT the ones who hide out in their office downtown and surround themselves with four–that’s right, four–assistant/associate superintendents who also do nothing!!! Get rid of the gang of five and save nearly a million $$$.
I am a North End Girl myself. No one is saying AFSCME members don’t work hard. But it was unfair for Finch to cut a no-layoff deal with one of maybe 10 unions that represent BOE members. And to do so on the same night the BOE was voting for a state takeover, well that’s just “unconscionable” (to quote Bob Walsh). So now a new board is appointed and they have the task of living within an established budget figure. Instead of downsizing across the board, they will have to lay off more of everyone else because AFSCME is sacred ground. Not fair North End Girl and you know it!
It IS fair!!! Technically, AFSCME local 1522 represents Public Facilities in addition to BOE employees. Two years ago, 1522 took furlough days in addition to pay freezes while the BEA refused to do the same. The BEA and the supervisors unions had the opportunities to do the same. When you come in and do my job for the $28,000 a year that I make–and many of the other people who were about to be laid off make the same that I make OR LESS–then you can call it “unconscionable.” We don’t sit in the Ivory Towers at City Hall or 948 Main St. WE are some of the very people who make things happen–who make sure YOUR children learn. Come in and do my job BEFORE you condemn me!!!
Might not matter anyway. Has anyone given any thought to what a state takeover might mean to existing union contracts?
State takeover could mean anything. The people who are really affected are those in the trenches–and those people are the ones who least deserve the screw job that’s coming down the highway!!!
BCSA, LIUNA, TRADES unions all made just as much or more significant concessions than AFSCME. They are already paying 25% of their insurance PLUS they took MANY MORE unpaid furlough days. They asked for but DID NOT GET a no-layoff clause. That, girlfriend, is not fair.
Why do you think AFSCME was the only one to get guaranteed job security? You tell me.
Politics aside, why as a parent do I feel the minority of three lead by Ms. Pereira are the only people who give a darn about my kids?
Lennie–Is it just me, or is Finch’s messaging here just awful? Isn’t he best served by portraying this as a bold move, not a last resort? He can and should be more aggressive in saying this is the only way to start the reforms Bridgeport schoolkids desperately need. Making it about the Board members/Board dysfunction seems to shrink the issue … but as long as Finch is alienating folks he should just go all the way and take on the entire system–political folks and no-show jobs included. Finch missed an opportunity here to re-cast his mayoralty and save his political career, imho.
The Nose Knows! Hope all is well. Hi-Choo!
Bless you, GR.
You’re dam right that this is a bold move AND a move of last resort.
The state successfully took over in Windham County. They came in like storm troopers and began to reinvigorate a failed program.
The program, like Bridgeport, was in desperate straits because a certain few individuals did not have the intellectual capacity to do the job they were hired to do … period.
We have Finch and we have Ramos. It’s our own fault. We won’t get out and vote better qualified people into office so Mario Testa gets to play with his own little world for as long as he likes. Dreadful.
I welcome the white knights (sorry, Mackey) charging into our school system and kicking out the people who have made this system a failure.
This is a very troubling turn of events that may well work very much to the benefit of Bridgeport students … Hopefully … But we always seem to ignore the main reason why education in urban centers is not doing its job.
I know there are many who blame the City for inadequate funding. Senior BOE administration always assumes the taxpayer will just have to contribute more. Ironically those administrators all live out of town where tax rates are much lower and the schools much better.
Fundamentally it is not purely a lack of funding although I absolutely believe there is serious mismanagement of resources, particularly grants, that must be addressed.
Candidly, there is nowhere near the parental commitment to education in urban schools than there is with suburban. Case in point, Dunbar is a failing school and when it was scheduled to be closed the parents went crazy and a waffling BOE flip-flopped. Yet when it was parent-teacher night at Dunbar only a tiny handful of parents showed up. I have heard similar stories from teachers many times.
Sen. Moynihan identified this problem back in the early ’60s and was castigated for voicing such politically incorrect views. Since then, this problem has only grown.
I guess, in a nutshell, the suburbs have far fewer dysfunctional families than the cities. Hence better schools.
Wish I had the answer … Pretty confident the current BOE administration does not.
yahooy: Finch and Co. would not have called in the state if they thought the state would clean them all out. Think about it. Who on the state board voted to approve this?
This takeover has long been in the works and everyone was in on it, including those on a state level. Look how quickly it was all done. Don’t know how well it was thought through since the cost of the likely constitutional battle is not going to sit well with the rest of a state that has just experienced a marked tax increase.
Naive.
If the metrics don’t improve after the state comes in, Malloy will have a lot to answer.
This is not a political move contrived to perpetuate the calamarian influence in this town.
Our school system sucks because the leadership, past and present, sucks.
The state will redirect already existing funding to attempt to provide better teaching and learning measurements. Bye bye bloated Fabrizis and the like.
Let’s face it. All the Bridgeport BOE is, is a good ol’ goombah employment agency and a way to favor political friends.
Just check out the preferred vendor list some day and you will see what I mean. Then take a careful look at all the “retirees” drawing consulting fees.
Thanks to Testa, we wasted valuable dollars that could have been spent seeing to it the few who do graduate know what they are doing.
Shameful. Paul Newman was being kind when he referred to us as the armpit of the country.
Now who’s being naive?
CT Post saying today state control move was plan being discussed over the past seven months and mostly due to the BOE board not ‘getting along.’ They say some out-of-towners will be appointed to the board.
If Mayor Moonbeam really thinks some philanthropic individual or organization is going to come in and fund a “dysfunctional” school district, then he is really a “Space Shot!”
He’s no Corey Booker. More like Abe Beam.
The question nobody is asking is what conversations have city officials or legislators had with the Governor and other state officials? What promises have been made? What role did people outside the city play in this massive abdication of responsibility?
Exactly! This backroom deal goes all the way to Hartford. Nancy DiNardo needs to make sure her brother continues to dodge his taxes. Not sure where Malloy fits into all this. Can’t imagine he wants this shitshow on his hands, particularly with his own budget mess.
My question, though, remains. Why Does Finch & Co. actually think this would help his bid for re-election? This just highlights the fact he is not a leader. Maybe the goal is to put enough people sympathetic to the machine in place so even if they lose City Hall, they can still maintain some control. It will certainly be interesting to see just who is appointed to this new board.
Phil–what do you mean, no one is asking? Foster issued an FOI asking exactly those questions on Tuesday.
fosterforbridgeport.com/fosterformayor/2011/foster-secret-deal-with-state-foi-seeks-answers/
This deal stinks but bad and it’s the kids who will suffer followed by the taxpayers.
Shame on Finch & Ramos. This whole thing has been political theater for the benefit of Mr. Kite (for you Beatles fans out there).
* That deal with AFSCME is outrageous Buying votes in the most transparent way. And no one calls Finch on it. Where the hell is the Connecticut Post shining a light on this crap? They’re supposedly big fans of the FOI law yet all they do is compliment the mayor?
* No wonder no one started tackling the BOE budget months and months ago.
* No wonder no one was screaming at budget hearings.
* No wonder Ramos urged the Board NOT to vote on the budget … only to then turn around and say it’s because they didn’t pass a budget that the State should come in. Are you KIDDING me? The whole thing is a set up!
They played the public like a fiddle and now that fiddle will play the children’s funeral dirge.
Pathetic.
As one former politician said years ago … Bridgeport gets what Bridgeport deserves. If the people don’t demand change, they’ll get the same old shit over and over and over.
Please people. Wake up. You’ve got a choice this time around. You’ve got candidates who aren’t beholden to Mario and his Gang of Incompetents. Get behind the candidate you like and vote these jokers out of their six-figure jobs. My choice is Foster. If you sit on your hands, don’t get involved, and don’t work to make sure your candidate gets elected then you’re no better than the losers in City Hall. In fact, you’re just another blowhard who helped keep the status quo in place.
Power to the people!
yahooy, perhaps you can help me because I’m a little slow. Let me see if I have this right. Mayor Bill Finch, Barbara Bellinger, President, Bridgeport Board of Education and John Ramos Sr, Bridgeport Schools Superintendent want the State to take over the Bridgeport school system mostly due to the BOE board not ‘getting along.’ So Finch, Bellinger and Ramos cannot do their job and educate our children because they can not get along with three BOE members. How can three BOE members stop anything when the vote results are 6-3?
Now Finch, Bellinger and Ramos want to subvert the rights of the citizens of Bridgeport by cancelling their vote of their choice for the BOE because they can not get along with three BOE members.
yahooy, tell me where I have gone wrong.
I would if I could understand the drivel you write.
Ron,
Ignore yahooy and ‘drivel’ comment. You have cast the actions of City officialdom and City commentary on these actions accurately in my opinion.
Though the conversations (or complaint sessions, as some in Hartford may term them) have been revealed to have taken place over many months, I wonder if there is really any deal that can be made. At this point where we have no formal idea of “who will be coming to Bridgeport for educational resuscitation,” it may be more relevant to look at what they are able to order, restructure, etc. while they are about their assessments, planning, and ultimate reviews. I don’t see how playing slow-pitch softball at this time would be to anyone’s benefit, do you?
So fast pitch (up close and tight) or hardball (unfortunately with some wild pitches thrown in by accident) may become the order of the day. This does not fit into a Mario machine-control model, does it? We’ll have to look at the public meetings held, listen to the words used and see how the actions and behaviors about and within the educational system change in the coming months. There are always discussions and understandings developed in a small group setting. This will not end. But the State appointees are going to see “progress is their most important product.” And relatively fast progress will give proof to the incompetence of the current educational leadership, the regular poor application of funds from all sources, and the wasting of years of lives of students and professionals without meeting real-life objectives.
Ultimately boards in most organizations would understand Roberts Rules of Order much better (if they had been subject to challenges to Agendas), be happy to have a 6-3 majority to pass most measures by, and see that listening and finding ways for everybody around the table to get some of what they need, is a way to function, well before claiming “dysfunction.” Is it in the nature of our City culture at this moment to expect “my way or the highway?” Again, looking at the City Council vote on the same night as the BOE, it may be only predigested backroom issues without attribution, financial projections or other diligent info publicly presented, is our habit. Note the cultural change accomplished 20 years ago with the Charter change to strong Mayor form of government? Weak Mayor in office takes major cues from outside the elected representative body (which can be controlled because of conflicts of interest without necessary recusals on matters financial). And the public realizes maybe once every four years it has a chance to grab the gold ring as the merry-go-round spins. 2011 is one of those years.
Wordy.
yahooy, call it anything you want, but you know.
See what I mean? Drivel.
Ron,
It’s all diversion, they are all playing 3 Card Monte at our expense. The Mayor & Peckerwood have all been doing backdoor deals with Hartford over the past several months putting this deal together. This deal was made before the AFSCME compact. You know nothing happens quickly in any government, but look at the speed of this deal! We were all set up but are supposed to be too ignorant to see it.
Antipasto, how true. I love it when yahooy gets pissed.
Ron,
Intelligent people debate, ignorant people argue. You had a very valid question worthy of debate, not scorn.
If those involved in this deal had half a brain they would have obtained a legal opinion on the legality and constitutionality of removing a democratically elected body. Take it one step further. Maybe the President should call for the reconstitution of the entire Congress because they’re dysfunctional, can’t agree on anything and don’t have enough money in the budget to sufficiently fund government. As a result, the citizens suffer. The President then appoints new members who won’t oppose him in any way, shape or form. Where is the will of the people? Sounds like a dictatorship to me.
Okay, this is way off subject but I have to make a statement:
I’m shocked at the hostility directed toward Casey Anthony. The jury found her NOT GUILTY OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER, and they were held to a higher evidentiary standard than Nancy Grace’s version of the “truth.” The prosecution didn’t have much of a case but I’ll give them a lot of credit. Linda Drane Burdick, Frank George and especially Jeff Ashton put on a four-star prosecution for the people of the state of Florida. Based on the facts entered into evidence in this case a conviction on the top three counts of the indictment would have been overturned on appeal, either by the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. There was nothing to support a case for premeditated murder or depraved indifference to human life. Caylee Marie Anthony’s death was a tragic accident. Her mother was unprepared emotionally and mentally to cope with such a loss. She lied about her daughter’s whereabouts. Dos that mean she’s a murderess? No, it just means she was a habitual liar. Did she go out dancing and partying four days after her daughter’s death? Yes, but that doesn’t mean she killed her child. Did she steal money, a credit card and blank checks? Yes, but that doesn’t mean she’s a murderer. All the state of Florida was able to prove is Casey Anthony was a liar and a thief. She was convicted on several counts of both. There was nothing in evidence to connect Ms. Anthony to the death of her daughter. No fingerprints, no DNA, no eyewitness accounts (on the contrary, many of her former friends testified she was a good mother to her child), no confession, no “smoking gun.”
The jury’s verdict is good enough for me. I wish her well in the future. She’s going to need all the positive energy she can muster, what with all of the self-righteous assholes who want to do her physical harm.
Bridgeport Kid, how did you feel about OJ’s verdict in his double-murder trial?
Hey Kid–You stupid fuck.
Are you telling me a two-year-old committed suicide by putting three pieces of duct tape over her mouth and nose to end her own life? Read the facts before expressing an opinion. That bitch was as guilty as Susan Smith. Could you justify the absence of a daughter or a niece for 30 days? You are apparently on the lower end of the food chain. Advice–know all the available facts before expressing an opinion.
Speaking of self-righteous assholes,I liked TBK better when he was a homeless person. At the time, I was so impressed with his posts I offered him a biz/opp sight unseen. He showed disinterest and subsequently called me several derogatory names.But now that he can “afford to live anywhere he wants,” he displays a negative attitude towards everything and gets involved with the biggest timesuck in media history: the CA trial.
I hope his situation improves.
Local Eyes–Congratulations on not sounding like an asshole. Keep up the good work, we need you.
Sorry to say Dr. Ramos will not be here, for the lighting of the North End Xmas tree.
I think I speak for most everyone here when I express my thanks to Lennie. Without his forum, we would continue to not have a way to express our thoughts about this administration and its crimes against the citizens of Bridgeport. Finch and his band of thieves seemingly get a pass from the garbage called the CT Post, but Lennie is here for us. I certainly don’t agree with everything he posts, but I’m grateful he posts it just the same. I find myself checking the forum every few hours like most. You can be the sharpest knife in the drawer, or be the “Moses of your people” and still have your say. Thank you Lennie!
Paging Phil Smith … Paging Phil Smith …
Phil, if you had read the release from Mary-Jane Foster’s campaign you would have realized long before there was something in today’s Post, she was filing FOI requests starting the process of unraveling who did what when. She is seeking info from the Mayor, Super, Board Prez, Governor, State Commissioner, etc. Too many people to have Mark Anastasi try to hide the facts.
Phil–Here’s your page.
/foster-issues-foi-request-smells-a-secret-deal-in-state-takeover-of-schools/
BRIDGEPORT — While the city’s Board of Education voted for a state takeover across town Tuesday night, the City Council approved a union contract that prohibits BOE officials from laying off teachers’ aides, special education bus drivers and clerical workers for the next two years.
The contract for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1522, approved in a 15-1 vote, was the subject of tense debate between councilmen Robert Walsh, D-132, and Andre Baker, D-139, and the rest of the council at its regular meeting in City Hall.
Walsh claimed it was “unconscionable” for the council to approve the contract without receiving a dollar amount on what the city’s savings would be as a result.
“And at the same time, on the other side of town (at Cesar A. Batalla School), the BOE is considering shutting itself down,” Walsh said. “It’s like there is a disconnect. It’s like we don’t know what’s going on the other side of town.”
What was going on was the BOE’s 6-3 decision to ask for a state takeover that could potentially replace its members.
Read more: www .ctpost.com/news/article/Contract-approval-with-no-layoffs-called-1455584.php
When Pereira and Working Families get done with Finch, he’s gonna wish he never answered the phone four years ago.
This is to Bridgeport Girl and to anyone else who is pissed off with Local 1522: Local 1522 settled a contract two years ago with five furlough days, no wage increase for the first 2 years, and a wage and insurance reopener this year. When school starts in August, I am due a 2.5% general wage increase and I will be paying 18% for my PCS. I will go from paying $86.87 per paycheck (for 21 pays) to $147.49 for myself + 1 dependent. I will receive a wage increase of 2.5% on 1/1/12 and 7/1/12. On 7/1/12 I will begin to pay 25% ($225.33) per paycheck (21 pays) for a total of about $4750 on a salary of about $30,000. I will be paying about 16% of my gross income for PCS. ANY NEW HIRES FOR LOCAL 1522 after 7/1/11 will begin paying 25% on 7/1/12–and will pay an additional 1% every year until a cap of 50% is reached. This was/has NOT reported in the media. All of you who are griping about the no-layoff clause in our new contract–make sure you read the contract before you moan and groan about what we’re getting. I for one am grateful I have a job–and the cost of what I must pay for health insurance that goes with it.
The problem does NOT lie with Local 1522–we don’t make policy. The BOE and the Superintendent do–we are the ones who must carry it out. If the BOE has to go, so should the Superintendent and his assistant and associate superintendents.
lisawhite,
I have not been able to get much info on the way the City works the healthcare issue. You have opened a small window. My understanding is that current and retired employees all end up in one plan with Anthem as third-party administrator perhaps. There may be different features for different unions or groups of employees and the plans may be generous or stingy. And employee costs may be age rated or flat. Don’t know. But what you are reporting is a parent and one child have an annual expense of about $19,000, of which you pay 25% or $4750. The $14,250 expense balance for healthcare is equal to almost 50% of your current salary. There are pension, death, disability and other features to your benefit plan doubtless all creating additional total compensation expense in the City budget.
I appreciate the fact you are grateful for your job and for the fact of your healthcare, with its substantial employee premium. Union employees of government will see a modification in the compensation structure in years ahead because union compensation has left the private for-profit worker in the dust. Hopefully employees and their union representatives will weigh in with thoughts on how to gain fair compensation for public service. The expense trends have been moving in the wrong direction for too long and empty municipal leadership with make-believe negotiations have caused pain to all parties with no long-term gain in terms of reversing trends.
I hope you believe this post is neither personal nor aimed at you. The purpose of your public service is hopefully a priority and the way you complete your service daily is hopefully at a high quality level. Not all public service positions or personnel budgeted are in that category. Current workers, like you, must help with comments and advice to those from “outside” who will have to wrestle with the financial crocodiles in the near future. Thank you for your insight today.
The City bargains with each of its 12 – 14 unions separately. Unlike the state union coalition. As a result, each union’s contribution to healthcare is different. The City is trying to get everyone to pay 25% which for family coverage is over $100/week and climbing. This is not equitable, as NE Girl said, because someone making $30,000 is paying the same as someone making $100,000. For someone like NE Girl, she is paying a much higher percentage. Then you take groups like the teachers and school administrators–they make some of the highest salaries in the city yet are still paying 12%. They negotiate with the BOE I believe. So NE Girl is right that the system is unfair. However what upsets a lot of unionized employees is the two-year no-layoff agreement. No one but AFSCME got that although everyone asked for it. We all know AFSCME leadership supports Mayor Finch, attends his fundraisers and works the polls for his candidates. NE Girl can’t deny this because we all see it. So although I understand what NE Girl is saying, I can’t help but suspect another dirty political deal here.
Just because the AFSCME leadership supports Mayor Finch doesn’t mean all of the rank and file do. As my dear grandmother used to say, you vote for the lesser of the evils–and that isn’t Bill Finch!!!
Stop crying. You are paying what everyone else is paying. Where did Anna finally seal the deal–McCarthy’s fundraiser?
Guess YOUR “mind” is made up–I can’t confuse you with facts.
It wasn’t settled on the table, she was under the table.
The bigger issue is the Labor Relations office is virtually dysfunctional. They are the single greatest cause of poor employee morale in City Hall. They allow employees to be mistreated and harassed by Finch’s department heads and they do nothing about it. Grievances are filed which are either denied without a hearing or simply ignored. When cases go to arbitration or to a CHRO hearing, Labor Relations pays outside counsel to defend the City’s bad actions. More often than not they lose in arbitration, costing the City thousands of dollars. FOI this over the past three years and you will see I speak the truth. The bigger issue is Labor Relations is headed by a man whose previous job was director of a Boys’ Club. The second in charge is Tom McCarthy who is also President of the City Council (major conflict). A new mayor needs to completely dismantle that office and start over.