May 5

The Voters Have Spoken

For the second time in six months, Akron voters have rejected district pleas for help. Issue 1 lost by 500 or so votes; it would have been a lot easier had it lost by 2000. Countless volunteer hours and over $200,000 in campaign expenditures are down the drain (apologies to the optimists and idealists) for a mere 538 votes. We can’t think of any strategy the campaign overlooked that might have won 270 of those 538 votes.

Our message was clear: we’ve done an admirable job in the face of what have become annual cuts and increasingly greater (unfunded) demands from the state and federal governments, and that defeat of Issue 1 would threaten further progress. The message was delivered in mailboxes, over the telephone and through the airwaves. The message bearers weren’t just school employees (thank all of you); they included business leaders (thanks Dan Colantone) and politicians (kudos to Mayor Don and most council members).

We say “most” council members because in the end, two (Dan Horrigan, Ward 1 and Terry Albanese, Ward 6) opted to cover their political backsides instead of doing the right thing for the city and endorsing Issue 1.

What message are voters sending us? There is a litany of nonsensical ones such as “the district needs to tighten its belt,” or “the big bad school unions are going to gobble up all (continued)

Voters

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the money,” or “kids in the Akron Public Schools aren’t learning anything.” Tune in to WNIR before the next election and you’ll hear all of them. Then there are the credible problems. For sure, many senior citizens on fixed incomes simply can’t afford additional property taxes, especially in the wake of this past winter’s high home heating costs and outrageous gasoline prices. A growing number of voters—not just in Akron—have vowed not to support another school levy until the state fixes the school funding problem. It is encouraging to know that voters are becoming more aware that there is such a problem in Columbus, as the Supreme Court said there was 10 years ago; paying the price for legislative incompetence in the meantime is very painful. What’s missing from this “unless, then” equation is that voters keep returning the very same lawmakers who refuse to address funding issues and are forcing school districts to ask property owners every three years on average to foot the school bill.

So now the Akron board will decide what to cut, and we’ll be back on the ballot in November. That election will also decide the next governor of Ohio, and already the Republican nominee, Ken Blackwell, is campaigning on no new taxes. There will also be several other state level races, the outcomes of which are critical to Ohio’s schools and teachers. We will identify these races in the fall and urge you to become active in them as well as the school levy campaign.

No Decision Yet From Board on Incentive

The Board of Education has not made a decision on whether to offer a retirement incentive to teachers this school year. Discussions are still taking place between the incentive consultant, Lowell Davis, and district treasurer Jack Pierson. The Board will choose among three options: offer an incentive this year, offer next year, or don’t offer at all.

Early in April, AEA and the administration agreed on a plan that included the following:

• a health care account into which $6,000 would be deposited annually for five years. The funds would be used to pay health care premiums for members and their dependents.

• deferral of severance pay over five years (five equal installments) into a tax sheltered account.

• the option to return to teaching for an additional year at the teacher’s existing salary. Members who chose to return would receive their regular salary in addition to their monthly retirement benefit and, if benefits are needed, would have to enroll in the STRS health care plan.

Any member eligible to retire, regardless of years of service, would be eligible for the plan in its first year. After the first year, the plan would be available only to those who reach 30 years of service in a given year. Pierson and Davis have been analyzing the cost effectiveness of this plan and have not yet reported their findings to the Board.

We must emphasize that as this analysis continues, certain parts of the plan may be modified.

PAYROLL OFFICE GEARING UP FOR SWITCH TO 24 PAYS

The Akron schools payroll office is busy preparing for the switch next year from 19 to 24 pays. Payroll Supervisor Blaine Bruce is working on converting payroll deductions to “fit” the new pay schedule with all annuity and insurance companies and banking institutions. As agreements are reached, the payroll office will notify members if they need to take any action to modify payroll deduction amounts.

Towpath Credit Union members MUST stop in at the credit union to make adjustments for deductions, both savings and loan payments. Towpath plans to notify me