171 replies to this topic

[AMETHYST PRODUCTIVITY]

For the record~ that position and title has now been changed with a reduction in salary. Part of the new Supt. reorganization.

How much of a reduction because even at HALF that salary, it's a hefty paycheck.

[JoAnne Reinking]

How much of a reduction because even at HALF that salary, it's a hefty paycheck.

The new title is Executive Assistant to the Superintendent. The job is no longer considered a management position. The new salary is $54960 per year.

[AMETHYST PRODUCTIVITY]

Thank you JoAnne!

[Folsom_Fam]

I think that the district needs to look at other ways of cutting back on expenses. Such as instead of moving the school start date up to August, why not bring it back to after Labor Day and end early June to save money on the Utilities that are needed to cool down the schools during the unbearably hot month of August?

I am not aware of everything that is included in this budget, but I have decided to take my children out of the public schools and go the Charter School route. The rise in the children per teacher ratio is getting too high. I volunteer in my child's grade school and see that the children don't get enough time to let the information that they are being taught sink in. As a parent, I believe it is ultimately my responsibility to get my child educated properly and as of now, I don't believe that our public schools are doing them justice.

I hope it gets better soon.

[nomad]

I think that the district needs to look at other ways of cutting back on expenses. Such as instead of moving the school start date up to August, why not bring it back to after Labor Day and end early June to save money on the Utilities that are needed to cool down the schools during the unbearably hot month of August?

I am not aware of everything that is included in this budget, but I have decided to take my children out of the public schools and go the Charter School route. The rise in the children per teacher ratio is getting too high. I volunteer in my child's grade school and see that the children don't get enough time to let the information that they are being taught sink in. As a parent, I believe it is ultimately my responsibility to get my child educated properly and as of now, I don't believe that our public schools are doing them justice.

I hope it gets better soon.

My brother moved out of Ca 20 years ago just for this very reason!

[teach]

18 days was an incredible sacrifice. I'm glad it didn't have a negative impact on your teaching, but I have heard differently from many others. I agree that this is a huge hit to your pocket books, and I understand your frustration when you feel other educators are not making similar sacrifices. I think it's important to look carefully at the spin our superintendent puts on his messages. The mess we are in is not the teacher's fault.

( It's also frustrating when a new district office, with a cafe and gym, is the works. The new district office will be funded with money that doesn't even exist yet, and was passed in a shady way (only a handful or voters, and it didn't pass the first time). Though none of the money funding the DO could go to help save jobs, it's hard to trust a district that seems to put it's priorities in the wrong places. I love my job, and I love working in FCUSD, but the folks in DO have been very frustrating! )

Obviously closing colleges is not a good solution. However, when you look at how many higher ed. opportunities there are in this state, we simply can't afford it all. There are a few colleges, such as Monterey, that have low enrollment. I think either fees need to go up, or some should close. We're closing schools in our district to save money, so this seems like a reasonable argument. Especially given the HUGE hit higher ed has taken. This is such a sad time for education, and ALL of the cuts effecting the classrooms are terrible.

[teach]

The new title is Executive Assistant to the Superintendent. The job is no longer considered a management position. The new salary is $54960 per year.

This makes me feel much better. However, think of the cuts that could have been saved if this had happened earlier. I wonder how many other outrageous salaries there are in DO. Hopefully they are all starting to go back to reasonable salaries.

[sunnyCA]

18 days was an incredible sacrifice. I'm glad it didn't have a negative impact on your teaching, but I have heard differently from many others. I agree that this is a huge hit to your pocket books, and I understand your frustration when you feel other educators are not making similar sacrifices. I think it's important to look carefully at the spin our superintendent puts on his messages. The mess we are in is not the teacher's fault.

( It's also frustrating when a new district office, with a cafe and gym, is the works. The new district office will be funded with money that doesn't even exist yet, and was passed in a shady way (only a handful or voters, and it didn't pass the first time). Though none of the money funding the DO could go to help save jobs, it's hard to trust a district that seems to put it's priorities in the wrong places. I love my job, and I love working in FCUSD, but the folks in DO have been very frustrating! )

Obviously closing colleges is not a good solution. However, when you look at how many higher ed. opportunities there are in this state, we simply can't afford it all. There are a few colleges, such as Monterey, that have low enrollment. I think either fees need to go up, or some should close. We're closing schools in our district to save money, so this seems like a reasonable argument. Especially given the HUGE hit higher ed has taken. This is such a sad time for education, and ALL of the cuts effecting the classrooms are terrible.

Yes, you are definitely right that some campuses have much lower enrollments than others. The campuses with higher enrollments are looking at impaction status, wherein they will reduce the number of students they accept. Theoretically, that will redistribute students to the other campuses. However, since many CSUs, including Sac State, are more of "commuter" schools it's hard to imagine that someone from Vacaville who wanted to go to Sac State but now cannot because of impaction will decide that Monterey is an acceptable option and go there. In any case, impaction status is on the table for many of the CSUs.

As for the furloughs, you are right...I am frustrated that higher ed stepped up to the plate and took a big hit while K-12 would not need to take nearly as much and yet their union wouldn't do it. This is, as you said, a sad time for education. I am hoping change is coming on many fronts but it doesn't seem to be likely in the near future...

[aubie84alum]

I wonder how many jobs would be saved by increasing health copay, freezing any pay increases, and a 5% cut in pay across the board. How many programs would be saved? How many great things could schools do if teachers switched to a defined contribution rather than a defined benefit?
Everyone (other than politicians and attorneys) is dealing with reduced pay/hours/opportunities and increased costs for health care, not to mention no sniff of defined benefit retirement for ANYONE in private sector.
It's time for teachers to understand that a 3 day furlough is close to a hollow gesture given the unfunded liabilities their unions have extorted from the legislature. Has anyone been paying attention to Greece? We are on our way, and public employee unions are leading the charge. I sure don't see any positive outcome for students or the taxpayer as their union bankrupts the state.
I like teachers, and I think it is a great job, but when they moan about how bad they have it, it just tells me they need a reality check.

And Joanne, please don't even consider using federal funds to "save" jobs. That is a short-sighted approach at best and does NOTHING to address the fundamental issues our state education system (as well as local) faces. Address the root of the problems...
Where is the money going? We are spending more than ever and getting less and less...

And for those that think this district is underpaid, CA has the highest pay for teachers in the nation...so you are still in the top tier...AND you get to teach in Folsom...

CA may have the highest paid teachers but Folsom does not. Also, our co-pay options have increased across the board. Also, teachers pay a higher co-pay than classified staff. Those staff members are not just office and maintenance workers. You can see all these salary schedules at the FCUSD web site. Most teachers do not make the highest salary on the schedule. The way to move columns on the schedule is to complete college courses. I will have completed 14 units by the end of June. After 25 years of teaching, not just in this district, I will finally move to the last column, not the last step, however.

I paid for the classes, I did the work, I pay for supplies (even $200 for a year's subscription to brainpop.com), my pay was decreased by $140 per month, this year and I don't work on the Folsom side of the district, although I have. The Rancho side suffers the slings and arrows of outragous fortune, comparatively.

The fact is, teachers don't have to make any concessions, but we are and have. We're giving up pay AND paying more for benefits. Our schools are losing staff, but I haven't seen those same cuts to district office staffing. I've heard that those cuts are made, but I have only seen changes in names of positions. It looks like they're cutting, but it's shuffling.

[JoAnne Reinking]

Tentative agreement reached in EGUSD. They also agreed to (2) days for this year to save counselors.



"Term: July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012 > Nine furlough days for both years > K-3 class size 24:1 > 4-6 class size 28:1 > Column Freeze but not a step freeze >"

Read more: http://www.sacbee.co...l#ixzz0oKg8qDsp

[cw68]

CA may have the highest paid teachers but Folsom does not. Also, our co-pay options have increased across the board. Also, teachers pay a higher co-pay than classified staff. Those staff members are not just office and maintenance workers. You can see all these salary schedules at the FCUSD web site. Most teachers do not make the highest salary on the schedule. The way to move columns on the schedule is to complete college courses. I will have completed 14 units by the end of June. After 25 years of teaching, not just in this district, I will finally move to the last column, not the last step, however.

I paid for the classes, I did the work, I pay for supplies (even $200 for a year's subscription to brainpop.com), my pay was decreased by $140 per month, this year and I don't work on the Folsom side of the district, although I have. The Rancho side suffers the slings and arrows of outragous fortune, comparatively.

The fact is, teachers don't have to make any concessions, but we are and have. We're giving up pay AND paying more for benefits. Our schools are losing staff, but I haven't seen those same cuts to district office staffing. I've heard that those cuts are made, but I have only seen changes in names of positions. It looks like they're cutting, but it's shuffling.

Why was your pay decreased by taking classes? I can't feel sorry for you for paying for them, at any job I've had, I would have had to pay for classes too, plus supplies. But decreasing pay because of going to school doesn't seem right unless you were unable to work as many hours.

My co-pays and my insurance costs have increased across the board. Unfortunately, that's the state of health insurance right now. I don't think it's fair to expect the district to absorb it.

[The Average Joe]

CA may have the highest paid teachers but Folsom does not.

Some perspective...

[MikeinFolsom]

You can probably take that "perspective" on pretty much every job in CA.

[The Average Joe]

You can probably take that "perspective" on pretty much every STATE job in CA.

Fixed that for ya'

Just one of many CA cities whose firefighters are breaking the bank (vs. annual countrywide average of 44k.
Firefighters in Union City...

Reasons why Ca prisons are so expensive

And those highest paid in the nation Correctional officers Where your money goes

[Soonerborn]

Some perspective...

The Cost of Living Index is typically one of the highest, if not the highest in the nation so it would make sense that teachers would need to be paid more than other states.

On a seperate note, as teachers continue to receive blame for the current proposed TA, there has been no mention of how administrators, top level included, in other districts very close by have taken substantial paycuts, one even double digits, much more than the teachers did.

Has the district really looked under every stone to find ways to save money? I have heard from several teachers that they asked the district to eliminate drivers ed, outsource it like other local districts have to earn some income and the answer they got was that it wouldn't work with thier scheduling! Did they even look at it or consult other districts?

It is interesting that teachers were told at one point that a calendar starting a week later was the board/district's priority, because it would save money and then the board votes for a different calendar that doesn't save the money of a later start date? Having two children in the district next year and two more to enter as well, it does concern me that it appears that there are cost cutting measures that could have been taken, with minimal student/job impact that were not taken.