ConnCAN, the business-backed school reform group that teacher unions love to hate, wants people to compare teacher contracts among school districts around the state.
“We recognize that in many places, the contract is a baseline and there are many teachers and administrators who go above and beyond the minimum requirements in these contracts,” said ConnCAN CEO Patrick Riccards. “For example, we know that many, many teachers work much longer days than what is required in their contract. However, when disputes arise or reforms are sought, the contract is a document that guides decisions and work rules and we believe that we must, therefore, look closely at what these contracts stipulate.”
You can look up and compare the contract rules for the length of the school day, class size and teacher preparation time, among other things.
For example, here is a comparison of teacher salaries among four Hartford area districts:
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12 Responses to ConnCAN Ups Ante: Teacher Contracts Online
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Worthwhile but misleading.
Most Districts also have a category called Masters +30 which is increasingly common as teachers graduate with a Masters (or get one early in their career) and then accumulate additional credits as part of professional training and development.
In Avon for example the Master Max is $82,551.00 the + 30 is $91,008.00 and that doesn’t include longevity payments, summer classes, department head or activity leader stipends. The era of the $100,000 teacher is here in CT.
Avon Salary Schedule
http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/backpack/TeacherSalarySchedule20112012.pdf
Oops. Forgot critical needs subject area stipends like Special Ed or Math teacher.
Please post up Patrick Richards’ salary and all of those who work for him in the ConnCAN GS&A group plus their level of education for a more complete comparison to the teacher’s salaries.Please be sure to indicate if any of them had their increases frozen over the last 7 years like many teachers.
Don’t forget that ConnCAN won the “If Bernie Madoff Worked in School Finance” award.
If I may beg your indulgence,just to level the playing field and to obtain a better direct comparison besides the salaries/wages in question………..Would you please list the salary/wage increase(s)- history(actual amount in $ plus %) for each ConnCAN employee requested above for the last 8 years.
Also,please enumerate their benefit compensation package.For instance:
- Can they participate in a 401 K plan(company match??-y/n-%)?
- Bonus or incentive pay?
-Health Insurance-type-co-pay.Dental?Drug? Eye wear/vision?
-Life insurance-1x/2x/3x salary etc?
-Short term/long term disability insurance?
-Vacation schedule?
-Number of personal days?
-Educational benefits?
-Of course they are all eligible for family leave and/or workmen’s compensation /unemployment/social security benefits where/when applicable.
I believe that covers it-if I forgot any-I send you another email.
Best Regards,
Kevin Edwards
PS-What types of severance pay would they be entitled to receive.
Does Mr Riccards have a’golden parachute”package”??
Many thanks again!!!
This whole thing is misleading. Many teachers have been frozen on their steps for years. I have taught for over eight years but still only on Step III. We also have to use our sick time to have babies, surgeries and even long term illnesses. There has not been any long/short term disability available.
Teacher pay schedules are publicly available. There’s no reason to lie.
Avon has 85 MA +30 teachers earning 90K a year who will be earning ~$94,000 in 2013 base pay at the end of the present contract. They will top $100,000 at the end of the next 4-year contract (2017).
The decision to further incentivize teachers to get additional degrees rather than put in longer hours for the additional money and/or tie that money into student performance? Look–teachers love getting paid for the extra coursework. It’s easy money.
Teaching OTOH is hard. Converting that $18,000 a year pay differential between a BA and MA +30 to additional hours at work rather than online classes in their PJs meets union opposition everywhere. The teachers in Stepford simply hate it the thought of more work instead of schmoozing online in their PJs
In East Hartford’s a Master +30 is worth $18,000 a year more than a Bachelor’s without any real evidence a Masters +30 produces better results for anyone except the teacher holding the credentials. Over 20 teaching years that’s $360,000 plus subsidized tuition costs and another estimated $250,000 in pension costs.
The better question is whether the same results can be had for half that amount from a non-certified 401K worker and the savings be deployed elsewhere?
Speaking a someone who got their certification the old fashioned way I know both sides of the issue and Americans should be thankful for the unions that raised the bar of educational quality and created a professional class of educators.
The problem today is that a K-12 ‘suburban’ education is a common commodity like a Netbook or Blu-ray player. Getting qualified people to teach the run-of-the-mill subjects isn’t rocket science in a bad economy and the bang for the buck isn’t there. The savings could be re-deployed into longer school days, summer programs, universal all-day preschool from age 3 up and a curriculum designed to graduate students with a Community College degree or Vocational Equivalent like Nursing at the age of 18.
That same union that did so much for professionalizing education is now a real impediment to academic change and school innovation. No one really asks “What should the school system be like from age 3 to 18? How good could it be? How can we derive more value from that expenditure in physical plant and instructional media?
There are experiments in urban education ranging from vouchers (“we can provide the same education as you for 1/2 the price”) and some really innovative stuff following up on ‘pay for play’ class accomplishments to urban housing communities that offer an immersive dawn-to-dusk educational environment for the children of single mothers. Holistic education and tutoring so to speak to address the home environment issue.
I’m not sure what the point of the contract comparisons are except to embitter people who don’t live in an education oriented town.
Here’s some of other newsworthy notes about ConnCan
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Wendy-Lecker-ConnCAN-big-influence-bad-3603340.php
Mr. Riccards at it again, that rolly-polly scamp! This database that he “created” has existed for years. This about as new as his “charter schools are public schools” rhetoric. If they are public schools, why are they are not listed in this database? The reason why is that the public could see that they are grossly underpaid. And where do the profits and tax dollars go: to Mr. Riccards and his millionaire friends. We really need a chart to show what these consultants and special masters like Paul Vallas and Steven Adamowsk, who were awarded no-bid contracts, are making. Fun Fact: Paul Vallas is special master of Bridgeport (you know, the city that lost its’ elected Board of Education in an illegal move by Stefan Pryor and his state BOE) makes $250,00 and it is listed as a “part time position.” This is where the money is people. The rest is just a smoke screen and more demonizing hard working people, unlike those who lie, cheat and steal for a living.
Rick-You got it wrong; Teachers unions don’t hate ConnCan. Teachers hate ConnCan.