Cuts in jobs, cuts in hours of 12 month employees, cuts to library aides. NOW it's time for the teacher's union to STEP UP and take a 1 year pay freeze. The non-certified staff did so 3 years ago!!!
The teachers contract comes up next year in 2013. Wonder what will happen then if they dont take a freeze this year? Maybe most of the teachers want to take a freeze but Bruce M. is against it. Hope he reads these blogs and changes his mind.
Here is the scoop on pay freezes-- Secretaries (the NFEP) were without a contract and took a zero as part of their contract negotiations. The Administrators renegotiated their contract, took a deferral and a zero but got a sweet contract extension. It saved all the language that protects them if they are downsized or have their hours cut. But Holy Crappy Deal, Batman- look at ALL THE AIDES AND ADMINISTRATORS WHO LOST THEIR JOBS. Wow- giving a zero really helps with job security. NOT!
Now- were the teachers given a contract extension? Nope. Were the teachers offered anything? Nope. In fact, the Board of Ed could have restored ONE TEACHER if they cut the cleaning supply budget and shaved a few bucks off of athletics. They said NO. What does that tell you about how teachers are viewed by the Board of Ed?
so why bother giving anything? people still lost their jobs and hours...it did absolutely no good. maybe the teacher's union is smarter than the rest of them....
Desperate ploy by Fred Wilms to be a power player. Every time the question comes up about money, Wilms says "NO", but then he gives a little. IMHO, he thinks he's winning points, sort of like playing the generous uncle. This guy is so delusional he still thinks he "almost" beat Bob Duff!
I don't disagree about Wilms the wannabe. I just don't think the Mosh or Wilms thought through the consequences of their plan. Seriously, they have Marks lay off tons of teacher but the stink is on them. Obviously they didn't expect someone like Mrs. Smyth rallying the parents.
BRAVO TO MRS. SMYTH! It's been a few years since a parent has rallied support for a cause. She forced the politicians to take account of the needs of the children. Mrs. Smyth would be a great replacement for Haynie or Keyes.
Only a few hours left.... BM/teachers PLEASE accept a pay freeze for this coming year. Teachers make MUCH more than aides, library clerks and support staff. $100,000+ for 180 days!!! If they need second jobs during the summer, then THEY need to budget!! They too can afford to help out in these hard times.
Listen to the person who wrote in the last topic. You can not play with grant money. Those aides who are out of a job, find out from the state department if what is being put into grant funds to replace you is actually legal.
Pay freezes have long term impacts. If you are near retirement, it lowers your average salary. Your pension is reduced. The $2,000 you give up today will cost you about $700 every year that you retire. On average the freeze would cost a teacher near retirement about $14 Grand. How is that fair? So if a teacher gives up $14 Grand, what will the Board of Ed do with the money? Pay for more transportation for the high school bands? Overpay displaced administrators (like Marks did this year)? Pay dues so Marks' friends on the BoE can go to out-of-town conventions?
Big deal if you are a teacher! Who cares? Get over yourselves please!You are no more important then any other BOE employee, including the janitors. If you don't like what's going on get out of town. Get into another line of work. Even better, go work for a non-public/private or catholic run school. I heard they are looking for teachers. Think you could handle that sweety pie?
In the private sector contracts mean something. When times were tough, how many times did you call CL&P to tell them to lower your electric rates? How many times have you filled up your car with gas and then told the kid working the cash register that you wanted to "renegotiate" the price? If you're unhappy with the teachers contract, don't vote for the people who negotiated or supported it (that includes Chiaramonte who was on the negotiation team, Rosa Murray who was Chairperson of the BoE and Mike Lyons who sat on the team as the overseer from the BET)
To June 30 1:21 am..... Boohoo, guess what. That is also true for the non-certified staff. Don't you think the cut in hours effects those pensions also. Give me a break!!!!!! We're ALL in this together. And THANK YOU to June 30 6:35 am post. I applaud you.
The 'You make more money than I do' accusations and pleas only serve to make for bad feelings among people who have to work together. Let's try to get through this without putting teachers down. Rome is burning and name calling will not help. This is probably a one year solution to a one year problem. In the corporate world there are many many people without an income, and some say a deeper recession will probably hit us. If you still have a job, be grateful. I feel sorry for those who don't have a job.
Hey anonymous 7:46am - so you think teachers are the most important staff members in the school system? More important then everyone else? More important than all classroom aides, clerks, secretaries, administrators, janitors, maintenance men, cafeteria workers, security people, nurses, library aides and the others I'm sure I missed. Well try running a school system without them.
Look, 10:03, I am not belittling the jobs other staff member do. Of course not! They are important to the operations of a school system as well. I am simply stating that teachers are the most important component in a place of education because they are responsible for delivering the curriculum. They are highly educated men and women who deserve respect. Of course in this country no one seems to receive the respect they deserve. Loyalty and respect are words that are no longer functional. Just listen to the secretaries in central office, for example. They denigrate their bosses every chance they get.
Whole lot of pettiness . . . guess Moccia and Chiaramonte win after all-- if we all turn on each other then they have a great excuse for their recklessness. If we are pointing and yelling at each other, who will be looking over Marks' shoulder? Did any of you forget, cutting hours was her idea. Crowding classrooms- her idea again. Teacher layoffs, no shop class at the high school- all Marks' brainstorm. The enemy to public education isn't the group of workers who feel they've given enough- it's the lost souls on the Board of Ed and the Rookie most support.
"PLANNED ALL ALONG"--- You mean there was a plan to Rookie Marks' budget? To get kids ready to read in the early grades, Marks' cuts Literacy Specialists, closes the libraries and crowds classrooms (and fires most of the AP's who knew how to coach literacy). To prevent drop outs at the high school, she cuts Transportation Tech at NHS and guts most of the staff from Briggs. To help kids through the middle school years, she eliminates team leaders, cuts all security and forces every school to get rid of a teacher. When Rookie Marks is asked where the 2 elementary AP's will go, she can't answer. When Rookie is asked what the middle school plan will be without team leaders, she stumbles and offers up another non-answer. Unless her plan is to play possum, I'd say there isn't much of a plan that's been put into action.
NORWALK IS FINISHED. Corruption is rampant and intelligent leaders are nonexistent. Seriously, what prospective home buyer with a single ounce of common sense would want to put their children in this school system? If you can swing it, get out...it's only going to get worse. The next big impact is going to be a tax hike to pay for this mess. It won't get hawked as a tax hike, but bet your boots there's going to be one...maybe it'll even be called a "penalty"...get out IF you can. Norwalk has finished sliding down hill and is now mired in the cesspool of corruption. Get out, get out, get out...your children deserve better and so do you.
As long as the Board of Ed doesn't follow Marks blindly, I will have hope. We need to get the politics out of local issues. That's where we are falling down.
I am still scratching my head after reading Angry Jack's letter to the editor in The Hour and his rebuttal to comments. You'd think that he would be screaming about mismanagement. Unless the City starts holding school department honchos accountable, maybe we don't have a chance to succeed.
Can you tell your kids that their schools are in good hands with a Rookie Superintendent who's plan is to have no plan, and who's backed-up by the likes of Haynie, Barbis, Chiaramonte and the return of Rosa "I Don't Respond to the Public" Murray?
I'm a parent and I'm going to fight to the end to save my kids' educations. But am I alone feeling a little burnt out by the process? I guess that's why I want to thank Mrs. Smyth and those courageous parents who have written letters to the editors-- they've been insulted and mocked, but they still keep fighting for all our kids. If only there were six of you on the Board of Ed, our kids might have a chance.
6:27PM - Just wondering what 2 you believe care more about our kids than their policical parties? I'm sorry to admit that I don't believe any of the 9 really care that much. To each and everyone of them, it's all about politics and the party they wish to please. While I am a registered Repub, in my opinion, that party has been systematically dismantling and destroying the public school system in Norwalk for the past 4 plus years.I'm not sure anyone of their common council members cares much about the future of education in Norwalk.......but they will have a fine public golf couse to play. Do many residents from the projects or South Norwalk play golf? And sadly, the Dems have seemed to turned themselves into a party of clowns that everyone laughs. I wish it were not true.
The Republican High Priests have spoken and declared that supporting Susan Marks is the new credo. The only two R's on the Board of Education who don't support her blindly are Kassimis and Colarossi.
I don't think anyone knows what the Dems stand for on the Board of Education. Barbis votes with Haynie all the time, and Keyes isn't far behind. Murray has forgotten the people she represents. Why else would any Dem have voted for that awful budget Susan Marks offered when they had a choice? At least Rivas stays true to her ideals.
Puh-lease restore ALL library aide positions - elementary & middle school. These funds are a gift - BOE Admin. do not screw THIS up!!!!
ReplyDeleteCuts in jobs, cuts in hours of 12 month employees, cuts to library aides. NOW it's time for the teacher's union to STEP UP and take a 1 year pay freeze. The non-certified staff did so 3 years ago!!!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how much a teacher pay freeze for one year would amount to?
ReplyDeleteThe teachers contract comes up next year in 2013. Wonder what will happen then if they dont take a freeze this year? Maybe most of the teachers want to take a freeze but Bruce M. is against it. Hope he reads these blogs and changes his mind.
ReplyDeleteHere is the scoop on pay freezes--
ReplyDeleteSecretaries (the NFEP) were without a contract and took a zero as part of their contract negotiations.
The Administrators renegotiated their contract, took a deferral and a zero but got a sweet contract extension. It saved all the language that protects them if they are downsized or have their hours cut.
But Holy Crappy Deal, Batman- look at ALL THE AIDES AND ADMINISTRATORS WHO LOST THEIR JOBS. Wow- giving a zero really helps with job security. NOT!
Now- were the teachers given a contract extension? Nope. Were the teachers offered anything? Nope.
In fact, the Board of Ed could have restored ONE TEACHER if they cut the cleaning supply budget and shaved a few bucks off of athletics. They said NO. What does that tell you about how teachers are viewed by the Board of Ed?
so why bother giving anything? people still lost their jobs and hours...it did absolutely no good. maybe the teacher's union is smarter than the rest of them....
ReplyDeleteDesperate ploy by Fred Wilms to be a power player. Every time the question comes up about money, Wilms says "NO", but then he gives a little. IMHO, he thinks he's winning points, sort of like playing the generous uncle. This guy is so delusional he still thinks he
ReplyDelete"almost" beat Bob Duff!
I don't disagree about Wilms the wannabe. I just don't think the Mosh or Wilms thought through the consequences of their plan. Seriously, they have Marks lay off tons of teacher but the stink is on them. Obviously they didn't expect someone like Mrs. Smyth rallying the parents.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO TO MRS. SMYTH!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a few years since a parent has rallied support for a cause. She forced the politicians to take account of the needs of the children.
Mrs. Smyth would be a great replacement for Haynie or Keyes.
Only a few hours left.... BM/teachers PLEASE accept a pay freeze for this coming year. Teachers make MUCH more than aides, library clerks and support staff. $100,000+ for 180 days!!! If they need second jobs during the summer, then THEY need to budget!! They too can afford to help out in these hard times.
ReplyDeleteListen to the person who wrote in the last topic. You can not play with grant money. Those aides who are out of a job, find out from the state department if what is being put into grant funds to replace you is actually legal.
ReplyDeletePay freezes have long term impacts. If you are near retirement, it lowers your average salary. Your pension is reduced. The $2,000 you give up today will cost you about $700 every year that you retire. On average the freeze would cost a teacher near retirement about $14 Grand. How is that fair?
ReplyDeleteSo if a teacher gives up $14 Grand, what will the Board of Ed do with the money? Pay for more transportation for the high school bands? Overpay displaced administrators (like Marks did this year)? Pay dues so Marks' friends on the BoE can go to out-of-town conventions?
I'm the 1:21 AM poster. I'm not a teacher. I just know math.
DeleteBig deal if you are a teacher! Who cares? Get over yourselves please!You are no more important then any other BOE employee, including the janitors. If you don't like what's going on get out of town. Get into another line of work. Even better, go work for a non-public/private or catholic run school. I heard they are looking for teachers. Think you could handle that sweety pie?
ReplyDeleteIn the private sector contracts mean something. When times were tough, how many times did you call CL&P to tell them to lower your electric rates? How many times have you filled up your car with gas and then told the kid working the cash register that you wanted to "renegotiate" the price?
DeleteIf you're unhappy with the teachers contract, don't vote for the people who negotiated or supported it (that includes Chiaramonte who was on the negotiation team, Rosa Murray who was Chairperson of the BoE and Mike Lyons who sat on the team as the overseer from the BET)
To June 30 1:21 am..... Boohoo, guess what. That is also true for the non-certified staff. Don't you think the cut in hours effects those pensions also. Give me a break!!!!!! We're ALL in this together. And THANK YOU to June 30 6:35 am post. I applaud you.
ReplyDeleteThe 'You make more money than I do' accusations and pleas only serve to make for bad feelings among people who have to work together. Let's try to get through this without putting teachers down. Rome is burning and name calling will not help. This is probably a one year solution to a one year problem. In the corporate world there are many many people without an income, and some say a deeper recession will probably hit us. If you still have a job, be grateful. I feel sorry for those who don't have a job.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is, teachers are the most important staff members in the school system. Try running achool system without them!
ReplyDeleteHey anonymous 7:46am - so you think teachers are the most important staff members in the school system? More important then everyone else? More important than all classroom aides, clerks, secretaries, administrators, janitors, maintenance men, cafeteria workers, security people, nurses, library aides and the others I'm sure I missed. Well try running a school system without them.
ReplyDeleteLook, 10:03, I am not belittling the jobs other staff member do. Of course not! They are important to the operations of a school system as well. I am simply stating that teachers are the most important component in a place of education because they are responsible for delivering the curriculum. They are highly educated men and women who deserve respect. Of course in this country no one seems to receive the respect they deserve. Loyalty and respect are words that are no longer functional. Just listen to the secretaries in central office, for example. They denigrate their bosses every chance they get.
ReplyDeleteWhole lot of pettiness . . . guess Moccia and Chiaramonte win after all-- if we all turn on each other then they have a great excuse for their recklessness.
ReplyDeleteIf we are pointing and yelling at each other, who will be looking over Marks' shoulder? Did any of you forget, cutting hours was her idea. Crowding classrooms- her idea again. Teacher layoffs, no shop class at the high school- all Marks' brainstorm.
The enemy to public education isn't the group of workers who feel they've given enough- it's the lost souls on the Board of Ed and the Rookie most support.
"PLANNED ALL ALONG"--- You mean there was a plan to Rookie Marks' budget?
ReplyDeleteTo get kids ready to read in the early grades, Marks' cuts Literacy Specialists, closes the libraries and crowds classrooms (and fires most of the AP's who knew how to coach literacy). To prevent drop outs at the high school, she cuts Transportation Tech at NHS and guts most of the staff from Briggs. To help kids through the middle school years, she eliminates team leaders, cuts all security and forces every school to get rid of a teacher.
When Rookie Marks is asked where the 2 elementary AP's will go, she can't answer. When Rookie is asked what the middle school plan will be without team leaders, she stumbles and offers up another non-answer.
Unless her plan is to play possum, I'd say there isn't much of a plan that's been put into action.
I have to admit that I was one of those who thought there would have been a last minute bigger bailout offered and passed.
DeleteNORWALK IS FINISHED. Corruption is rampant and intelligent leaders are nonexistent.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what prospective home buyer with a single ounce of common sense would want to put their children in this school system? If you can swing it, get out...it's only going to get worse.
The next big impact is going to be a tax hike to pay for this mess. It won't get hawked as a tax hike, but bet your boots there's going to be one...maybe it'll even be called a "penalty"...get out IF you can.
Norwalk has finished sliding down hill and is now mired in the cesspool of corruption. Get out, get out, get out...your children deserve better and so do you.
As long as the Board of Ed doesn't follow Marks blindly, I will have hope.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get the politics out of local issues. That's where we are falling down.
I am still scratching my head after reading Angry Jack's letter to the editor in The Hour and his rebuttal to comments. You'd think that he would be screaming about mismanagement. Unless the City starts holding school department honchos accountable, maybe we don't have a chance to succeed.
ReplyDeleteCan you tell your kids that their schools are in good hands with a Rookie Superintendent who's plan is to have no plan, and who's backed-up by the likes of Haynie, Barbis, Chiaramonte and the return of Rosa "I Don't Respond to the Public" Murray?
ReplyDeleteI'm a parent and I'm going to fight to the end to save my kids' educations. But am I alone feeling a little burnt out by the process?
ReplyDeleteI guess that's why I want to thank Mrs. Smyth and those courageous parents who have written letters to the editors-- they've been insulted and mocked, but they still keep fighting for all our kids. If only there were six of you on the Board of Ed, our kids might have a chance.
I agree with everything you said. Unfortunately, I think we only have 2 on the BOE that care more about our kids than their political parties.
Delete6:27PM - Just wondering what 2 you believe care more about our kids than their policical parties? I'm sorry to admit that I don't believe any of the 9 really care that much. To each and everyone of them, it's all about politics and the party they wish to please. While I am a registered Repub, in my opinion, that party has been systematically dismantling and destroying the public school system in Norwalk for the past 4 plus years.I'm not sure anyone of their common council members cares much about the future of education in Norwalk.......but they will have a fine public golf couse to play. Do many residents from the projects or South Norwalk play golf? And sadly, the Dems have seemed to turned themselves into a party of clowns that everyone laughs. I wish it were not true.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican High Priests have spoken and declared that supporting Susan Marks is the new credo. The only two R's on the Board of Education who don't support her blindly are Kassimis and Colarossi.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone knows what the Dems stand for on the Board of Education. Barbis votes with Haynie all the time, and Keyes isn't far behind. Murray has forgotten the people she represents. Why else would any Dem have voted for that awful budget Susan Marks offered when they had a choice? At least Rivas stays true to her ideals.