A few things about growing opposition to Greeley District 6 3A MLO ballot measure.

First, check out Facebook page Citizens Against School Bullies.

Second, it’s been two weeks since I submitted a CORA request for specifics on 27 Greeley Evans District 6 administrators’ total compensation package.  No information yet.  Tomorrow (Monday) I will contact District 6’s attorney for a reason why I can’t get the information I requested. 

And remember Tribune publisher Bart Smith’s naive dig towards those of us who want transparency:

Others who say they want more transparency show their lack of knowledge of how a public institution operates. School financing is an open book. Anyone who chooses can dive into the records and see how every cent is spent.

The district is not quite as cooperative as Smith suggests.

I will say that District 6 did provide teacher compensation information quickly.  But it was to the district’s benefit to do so because the district and the Greeley teachers’ union went to mediation the day after I made the information public — a transparent PR move on the part of District 6.

Finally, an update about teachers’ salaries in District 6.  While testifying in front of the Long Term Fiscal Stability Commission on Thursday, the Colorado Department of Education provided commissioners with various statistics about all school districts in Colorado.

Greeley District 6 ranks 11th in the state in average teacher salary at $49,905 (this does not include benefits such as health insurance and retirement both of which are quite lucrative).  Districts ahead of us include Aspen, Summit County, Cherry Creek, Littleton, Englewood, Boulder Valley, Westminster, Arapahoe 26 J, Adams 12 Five Star and Mapleton.  All of these are either from the Denver/Boulder metro area or wealthy mountain communities with much higher costs of living than Greeley.

I would be happy to pay a great teacher a six figure salary but it must be based on performance and product (student achievement) not longevity nor their own educational advancement.  I’m not the only one who thinks K-12 is past due for compensation reform.  Check out Separation of Degrees from the Center for American Progress run by John Podesta, Chief of Staff for former President Bill Clinton.

We cannot continue funding a dysfunctional system that serves the adults not the consumers, a.k.a. parents and students.

While taxpayers have to decide whether or not to approve a massive property tax increase, 3A MLO,  for District 6, the school board and teachers’ union are locked in a battle over the teachers’ master contract agreement. (I’ve actually read the entire document.)  The teachers’ union originally asked for a 10.25% total compensation increase.  According to a recent District press release the school board is offering:

• Fully pay the increased cost of teachers’ contribution to their retirement (PERA).
• Fully pay the increased cost of teachers’ health, dental and vision insurance.
• Continue to pay teachers for advancing their own education.
• Increase per-hour pay for non-contract work to $25 per hour from the current $18.

The teachers union will make a decision to accept or reject by October 6. 

How much do teachers make right now for their 184 day contract?  Roger Fiedler, Communications Director, provided me with the following information in an email:

There are 1,285 teachers in District 6. Of these teachers, 926 receive a total compensation package of at least $40,000. The only teachers whose total compensation package is less than $40,000 are part-time teachers or partial-year teachers (those who will work less than a full contract year because they were hired after the start of school).

• Number of teachers whose total compensation package (salary and benefits) is $40,000–$60,000 per year: 421
• Number of teachers whose total compensation package (salary and benefits) is $60,000–$75,000 per year: 229
• Number of teachers whose total compensation package (salary and benefits) is $75,000–$90,000 per year: 170
• Number of teachers whose total compensation package (salary and benefits) is more than $90,000 per year: 106

To put these figures into context, the median household income in Greeley is $39,438 according to the census.  When the Greeley Education Association embraces performance-based pay, I’ll support pay raises.  Right now, we endure below average graduation rates, below average standardize test scores and above average teacher salaries. 

I’m still waiting for specifics on pay for District 6 administrators.

Governor Bill Ritter vetoed SB 180 which would have allowed collective bargaining for firefighters despite the will of local voters.  This is great news for Fort Collins and Weld County voters who, on multiple occasions, have defeated collective bargaining for first responders.

I have been critical of Governor Ritter but in this case he was right and it probably will cost him.  I give him credit for supporting local control. 

That’s more than I can say for several No CO legislators who voted against the will of their constiuents in order to appease union contributors.  No CO legislators voting yes: Reps Randy Fischer, John Kefalas, Jim Reisberg and Sen Bob Bacon.  According to Follow the Money, these four legislators received over $112,000 from labor unions during the last election cycle.

I guess what unions want is more important than what voters want.

Unemployment is nearly 9 percent; the economy continues to contract; GM is bankrupt; New Frontier Bank’s collapse continues to plague all of Northern Colorado; and the Greeley teachers’ union (GEA) wants more than a 10 percent increase in teachers’ overall compensation including pay raises, retirement contributions and additional funding for health care premiums.

Furthermore, at 66 percent, Greeley Evans District 6 graduation rates are below state average and those of most neighboring districts.    And based on what I saw at Greeley Central’s graduation that percentage won’t go up next year.  District 6 also suffers from below average CSAP scores.  However teacher pay is above those of neighboring disticts.  In December 2007  the Greeley Tribune reported: “District 6 teacher pay had ranked in line with Fort Collins, Loveland and Longmont, but under the new agreement Greeley-Evans’ beginning and maximum salaries…will top neighboring districts…Additionally, with teacher pay in 2006-07 at an average of $47,866, District 6 exceeded the state average of $46,973 that year. ”

In fall 2008 a top tier teacher in District 6 could make over $80,000 per year.  With a 185 day contract, that’s nearly $433 per day.  Not bad pay!  That doesn’t even count the most generous, albeit insolvent, retirement program in the state PERA Colorado.   All of this is on the taxpayers’ dime.

A 10 percent increase in teachers’ compensation is unrealistic in today’s economy.  But it isn’t just teachers.  The administration is bloated.  We have a six figure mouthpiece because our Superintendent making nearly $210,000 doesn’t have time to talk with the press.  No wonder the district wants a mill levy override (pipe dream).

Much of this might not matter if we were graduating well-educated kids.  As it stands right now, we are barely graduating mediocre students.

Here’s a lesson that District 6 should take to heart.  In tough economic times, don’t ask people who are either making less than you are to shell out more of their hard earned money for marginal results.  It’s not a successful business model.  Too bad the delivery of public education isn’t more like a business.

Congresswoman Betsy Markey got nearly a quarter million dollars from labor unions to help her defeat incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave.  Now Markey is paying them back by sponsoring card check legislation.  She’s making a potentially fatal political mistake.  The unions don’t need her vote to win in the House, and they certainly don’t need her as a co-sponsor.  Yes, they gave her a lot of money, but is risking her political future worth the price?

Markey represents a conservative district. Last fall the Colorado Stateman reported that the 4th CD is 38 percent Republican, 27 percent Democrat and 35 percent unaffiliated.   Markey campaigned as business woman who understands the challenges of running a small business. She campaigned on “change.”  She was going to cut spending and restore fiscal discipline.  Check out the campaign ads and decide if she is voting as she campaigned.

Back to Markey’s mistake.  Perhaps she doesn’t remember that binding arbitration couldn’t even get 30 percent support in Fort Collins, but the business community does.  The Fort Collins Coloradoan quoted David May, CEO of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce: “It would seem that she’s out of step with her constituents. I would point out that the most liberal part of her district is the city of Fort Collins, and city of Fort Collins overwhelming defeated binding arbitration (for municipal employees) by a vote of 71 percent last June.”

Northern Colorado’s business community does not like card check legisation.  One of the most influential business voices in this region is the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance (NCLA) and it opposes this legislation calling it dangerous.  NCLA has issued a call-to-action in hopes of defeating it.  National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s leading voice for small business, opposes card check too.

Markey represents a conservative district that doesn’t exactly embrace labor unions.  (Think Monfort) The business community is opposed to card check and still Markey co-sponsors the union-forced issue.  One could argue that Markey is standing on principle. We’ll see if she is still standing next election cycle or will blunder bring her down?

I do wonder something.  Did Markey encourage all her employees to unionize and collectively bargain when she was a business owner?  I ask this in all seriousness because I don’t know.

Congresswoman Betsy Markey is co-sponsoring Card Check legislation that would empower labor unions and their coersive tactics.  Card Check is an attempt to end private ballots in favor of publicly signed cards.  More than 60 newspapers across the country are opposed to legislation while only three favor it.   Even the very liberal former Senator and presidential candidate George McGovern opposes Card Check, a.k.a. the Employee Free Choice Act.  In a Wall Street Journal editorial McGovern wrote of his concerns.

As a longtime friend of labor unions, I must raise my voice against pending legislation I see as a disturbing and undemocratic overreach not in the interest of either management or labor.

The legislation is called the Employee Free Choice Act, and I am sad to say it runs counter to ideals that were once at the core of the labor movement. Instead of providing a voice for the unheard, EFCA risks silencing those who would speak.

The key provision of EFCA is a change in the mechanism by which unions are formed and recognized. Instead of a private election with a secret ballot overseen by an impartial federal board, union organizers would simply need to gather signatures from more than 50% of the employees in a workplace or bargaining unit, a system known as “card-check.” There are many documented cases where workers have been pressured, harassed, tricked and intimidated into signing cards that have led to mandatory payment of dues.

Under EFCA, workers could lose the freedom to express their will in private, the right to make a decision without anyone peering over their shoulder, free from fear of reprisal.

According to Open Secrets, Markey received $241,000 in campaign contributions from labor union.   Considering how much they stand to benefit from Card Check, that’s probably a good return on their investment. 

Yesterday, I sent an email to the Congresswoman’s press secretary Ben Marter about Markey’s position and invited her to be a guest on the show (again) but have yet to receive a response.