I was dismayed to see the integrity and dedication of Westfield’s school teachers attacked by a colleague of mine on the city council. In an article appearing in the Westfield News, the councilor stated that teacher “sick days will get used up with hangnails and headaches, and that the school system will see quite an increase in the number of substitutes.”
Before I address precisely why these words are so galling, a little background is in order.
Under the current contract with the city, Westfield’s educators are eligible to receive payouts for unused sick time, up to a maximum of 100 days worth, upon retirement. They must accrue 180 days of sick time to receive the maximum 100 day payout. This kind of deferred compensation helps city governments “kick the can down the road” in tight budget years when tax revenue is down. Agreeing to these kinds of payments saves the government from having to provide immediate pay increases to its workers.
Ideally, local governments would squirrel away the money during better financial times in anticipation of the of future payouts. In theory, cities and towns would use the money not spent on substitute teachers and put it into a fund set aside specifically for the sick time buy-back program. But we all know how that goes. Humans, it seems, are poor long-term planners. And so now, if just a handful of teachers retire simultaneously with a lot of accrued sick time, it results in a payout of hundreds of thousands of dollars with no easy way for the city to pay for it. This year, for example, the school department faced about $850,000 in severance payouts, a very significant portion of a $59 million budget.
Recognizing the tough spot the city is in, the teachers and the school committee worked very hard and closely together to negotiate an agreement to eliminate the sick time buy-back program. In exchange for eliminating the program, the school committee has agreed to increase the salaries of the teachers with the most seniority so they may collect more money during retirement which is funded almost entirely by the teacher’s themselves through an 11% payroll deduction paid into the Massachusetts Teacher’s Retirement System. Although the city will have to pay a little bit more in salaries, it’s significantly less than the amount they would have to pay if they continued with the sick time buy-back program. Not only does this save taxpayer money, the move also allows the city to more easily plan each budget year because there will be no more huge severance packages to pay out.
And so what gratitude do the teachers get for working with the city and eliminating the sick time buy-back program? We are told by one of our elected officials that it’s a bad deal because now our teachers will be looking to cheat taxpayers with flimsy excuses to call in sick.
First of all, such statements completely ignore the fact that the contract with the teachers has language to prevent the abuse of sick time. The superintendent can require teachers to be examined by a doctor if they suspect the teacher is abusing their sick time. If an employee has three or more absences during the course of a year, they are required to fill out an “Employee Reporting Form” to ensure all illnesses are properly documented. And if an employee is absent for five consecutive days, the employee must submit a certificate of personal illness to the Superintendent of Schools. The contract also has a discipline provision if there is an abuse of sick time.
But the most irritating facet of my colleague’s statement is how it undermines the morale of our teachers who have dedicated their lives to the education of our children. I can only imagine what must go through a teacher’s mind—who is probably paying money out of their own pocket for school supplies—when they are told that they can’t be trusted to show up to work. Our teachers are our partners. We need to treat them like the highly-educated, highly-trained professionals they are. This kind of teacher bashing is antithetical to the goal of educating our kids. What teacher wants to work for a city whose leaders accuse them of being cheats?
And so I strongly encourage my fellow councilor to retract his statement and issue an apology for his unfounded and counterproductive attack on the integrity of our teachers. Politicizing the budget process in this manner is completely irresponsible. Rather than being attacked, our teachers should be applauded for working toward common ground with the mayor and the school committee during contract negotiations and finding creative ways to save the city money.
Now, turning attention to another important matter regarding our education system in Westfield: the school budget. This past Tuesday, representatives from Westfield’s school committee met publicly with the city council’s finance subcommittee. They submitted a budget, approved by the mayor, that will result in the following cuts in services totaling $725,000:
PERSONNEL LAYOFFS (13 positions total):
* Elimination of 2 instructional positions (teachers) ($110K)
* Elimination of 3 supervisor positions ($242K)
* Elimination of 5 paraprofessional positions (teacher aides) ($78K)
* Elimination of 1 clerical position ($22.6K)
* Elimination of 2 maintenance positions ($69.5K)
OPERATING EXPENSE CUTS
* Reduced Out-of-District Vocational Tuitions ($62K)
* Reduction in late buses ($50K)
* Special Ed Tuitions ($90.9K)
The finance subcommittee’s response was to cut an additional cut of $600,000 to the school budget which will lead to even further reductions. I am absolutely opposed to further cuts in services to our school system. As I stated when I campaigned for office, I believe educating our children is essential to our society’s well-being and is absolutely the last service that should be cut. A budget represents our priorities and if we can find $1.9 million to renovate our athletic fields, as the city council did last year, then surely we can find $600K to avoid further cuts to our schools. I will do what I can to ensure that cuts to our school budget are minimal.
I know a lot of residents are asking, “Where are out tax dollars going? Why are we having to make cuts when we pay so much in taxes?” These are great questions. At the most fundamental level, it comes down to how our society raises revenue to the pay for the things we need. In my opinion, the property tax is about the worst way to supply tax revenue because it’s a fundamentally unfair tax and hits the poor and middle class the hardest.
So what are our alternatives for bringing more revenue into the city? As this article is already running long, I’m afraid I will leave that question for another day. But there are concrete steps we should and must take for Westfield to extricate itself from its budget woes.
With that, I wish everyone has a very happy and safe summer. Don’t forget to buy your tickets for the Babe Ruth World Series and hope to see you at all the other wonderful events going on in Westfield.
Sincerely,
Steve Dondley
City Councilor, At-Large
