More school budget trouble looms - St. Petersburg Times

BROOKSVILLE — Labor says the glass is half empty, and management says it's half full.

Over most of the summer, that was a pretty good description of the contract talks between the Hernando County School Board and the teachers union.

For weeks, superintendent Wayne Alexander described the district's proposed 3.5 percent raise and 1.5 percent health care boost as the state's most generous offer, while union officials pushed for a bit more.

But that half-full glass may have sprung a leak this week, with the news that state funding cuts could be twice as severe as predicted.

District enrollment is expected to be down from projections by 428 state-funded students, said finance director Deborah Bruggink. And state officials have said plunging tax revenues may increase an anticipated "holdback" of funds from 2 percent to 4 percent.

All told, she said, the district could be looking at a $3.5-million shortfall at the same time it tries to boost teacher salaries.

On Thursday, union negotiators proposed a 4 percent raise plus a 1.5 percent increase for health care premiums.

"Both sides are very close," said Joe Vitalo, president of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association. "But the state is now saying they want more money back."

Such changes call into question Gov. Charlie Crist's commitment to protect teachers and schools from further cuts, Vitalo said. Nevertheless, he urged the School Board to set its priorities correctly and find the money to boost teacher salaries.

On another contract issue, differences over a teacher dress code proposal appear to have been largely resolved, he said. The union has proposed contract language that would require teachers simply to dress "appropriately and professionally."

But more than 90 percent of teachers oppose a district proposal to attend two additional staff meetings per month without pay, according to a union survey.

Alexander said Friday that the district's previous offer of a 3.5 percent raise is still on the table — for now.

"But I am really concerned about what happens down the road, as early as next week," he added.

Raising teacher salaries and recruiting top talent is a priority for the School Board, Alexander said. But declining revenues may be pushing the county and state in opposite directions.

"My biggest fear is that at some point in this academic year, statewide, we'll have to look at reducing people," he said.

Comments on this article

by justateacher	Sep 25, 2008 12:06 PM
Love the teaching part of my job. Would like to see all the County Office coaches GO! Why so many new positions at the County Office level? What do they do ALL day? Who are the coaches coaching? I haven't seen one in my class yet!

by Reese	Sep 23, 2008 5:49 PM
Okay so let's say you get this raise. Will it come at the expense of layoffs? Before you rush for the raise think of the possible consequences.

by mack	Sep 22, 2008 10:30 AM
read tucks comment ...now read it again enough said be glad you have one of the best jobs period!!!!!!!!i laugh when i hear raise ..spoiled rotten comes to mind

by Jan...not a teacher	Sep 22, 2008 10:28 AM
Leave the teachers alone people! Do you have kids? I want my kids to have the best and if that means sacrificing to have a good education, then so be it! Don't hurt the kids with your politics!!!

by mom3	Sep 22, 2008 10:24 AM
Fire Dr A. Get rid of the DELL contract & Mrs A, it's a JOKE. HCSB - no salaries. Don't build he new high school. Give our teachers their much needed salary increase.

by Tired Teacher	Sep 21, 2008 7:27 PM
Get rid of all the curriculum specialists and extra math coaches. Streamline the district office and cut back on all the extra fat that we have downtown. Then we would have more money for teachers. Oh and send the 8 million dollar Dell contract back!

by Suspicious	Sep 21, 2008 6:24 PM
$8 million for rented computers while discarding working computer from schools - now a budget crisis - anyone else see financial mismanagement and incompetence in this coincidence? Fire Czar Alexander

by goldielocks	Sep 20, 2008 11:16 PM
The gov't figures out projected prison needs by the 3rd grade fcat reading scores, so as a teacher, since most of you have grown children and don't want to contribute to current needs, keep building prisons; we don't need your help.

by john	Sep 20, 2008 11:08 PM
PEOPLE SHOULD NO THIS STATE IS IN TROUBLE THIS STATE HAS NO MONEY. THE GOVERNOR NEES TO GO.HAS DONE NOTHING FOR THIS STATE

by Chris	Sep 20, 2008 10:45 PM
Start by firing all the "district office" employees, do we really need all of the "specialists" and "directors", the HCSB is not a business, it is a school dist. Teachers must be the #1 employee to be paid, Wayne no MD after your name, so you are Mr.

by marilyn	Sep 20, 2008 10:43 PM
teachers not happy with 3.5 raise, should be thankful for job. Let them get a job, 8 to 5 days,vacation maybe 2 weeks a y ear. thank God for private schools, students have dedicated and caring teachers, not the frustrated, bitchy public school ones

by also fed up	Sep 20, 2008 10:10 PM
Three IDPD's to be done in less than 15 days. Along with spending hours learning this new reading series, preparing centers - some that u have to make! Even after the reps said"Oh, everything is there for you". Get with. it school board and Dr. A

by over it in Hernando	Sep 20, 2008 10:09 PM
Last time I checked, my job description was "teacher", not "one who fills out meaningless paperwork in triplicate." Hello--cut the crazy pay at the district office (for people who make me do MORE paperwork) and let me TEACH!

by PascoTheSame	Sep 20, 2008 10:00 PM
The grass is not greener over County Line. Poop runs downhill--from Tallahassee. Need to start there, not in your own nest. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

by NOT a Teacher	Sep 20, 2008 9:58 PM
I think we should fire everyone and let the teachers & parents run everything. Y'all forget--it's not the District making the rules, look to the State. You have a four-year degree? Get out of your little self-centered box.

by Tuck	Sep 20, 2008 9:53 PM
What part of Cut Back Don't you people understand. The money is gone. More is going. We are in a depression. Study it, see what it means. Or go to Pasco County. I am sure they are not getting hit the way we are. NOT....

by Lilly M.	Sep 20, 2008 12:40 AM
I agree. All they do is dream up more useless paperwork for us. We don't need them if they make things worse instead of better. Data isn't the end all be all. It just looks good in the paper. Quit playing to the media Dr. A. Leader, not dictator.

by Hernando teacher	Sep 20, 2008 12:40 AM
Can't wait until Pasco starts hiring outside their county! This is garbage just for bargaining leverage. Why are we asking overworked teachers to do busy work instead of solid planning for their students without telling them what when to do what.

by Won't be here next year	Sep 20, 2008 12:40 AM
Yes, put some of those wageheavy DO people in a class. Start with curriclulum and that STUPID PACING GUIDE. Drop the top and give the teachers what they deserve. Busy work, that's us! We have meetings to learn how to do things we can't use. Data*

by Not buying it	Sep 20, 2008 12:39 AM
If the state wants more money back, take it from Alexander! He's useless. How does the county keep changing the number of students? Can't you count? Are they there or not? This is BS to try to get one over on the union. SBoard = chicken little.

by fedupteacher	Sep 19, 2008 8:11 PM
Well why don't we start at the top! Are those math coaches out in schools coaching - NO! Are those curriculum specialist out in schools helping - NO!! Do they even know what's going on in the real world - NO!! They just give us more paperwork to do.