SB141 and Education: How do we move to the head of the class now?
Centuries ago, there lived an English livery stable owner named Thomas Hobson. His non-negotiable policy was that every customer had to take the horse nearest the stable door or none at all. Today, a choice without an alternative is known as a Hobson's choice.
With a week to go before 50,000 students are scheduled to walk through the front doors of Anchorage public schools, an estimated 3,000 Anchorage public school teachers are gathering Monday afternoon at the Sullivan Arena to vote on the School District's final offer on a three-year compensation package.
While both sides have legitimate positions, the end result has been a take it or leave it offer that would make Thomas Hobson proud.
For months, the two sides have remained at an impasse over the cost of the teachers' contract. With rising operational costs and a growing burden on local property taxpayers, the district feels it has given enough. With rising health care costs and stagnant wage growth, educators feel they have given more than enough. The district has stated that if the teachers strike, schools will remain closed.
For years Alaska's school districts and teachers statewide have operated under increasing demands and rising costs.
The large increases we've seen in state education funding in the past two years have been directly due to years of underfunding by the Legislature. Given the boom and bust funding history, both sides at the bargaining table are concerned about keeping up with rising costs.
Every day, Anchorage School Superintendent Carol Comeau is responsible for 50,000 students and 5,550 employees. She's rightfully worried about being able to cover the cost increases of tomorrow. In Anchorage, roughly 45 percent of property taxes goes to funding public schools. Comeau has the prickly task of balancing mounting costs from liability issues, labor and health care and a rapidly changing student profile against income from local property taxes.
Meanwhile, Anchorage teachers are rightfully worried about affording today's rising costs.
For the last 20 years, the average increase in a teacher's salary has been less than the inflation rate. And let's face it: Today's classroom is dramatically more demanding than 20 years ago.
Factor in slow wage growth, the increased cost of living and more demands on the job, and teachers have valid arguments.
Thankfully, we can all step back from the ledge: Thomas Hobson has left the building.
Last month Gov. Frank Murkowski signed a controversial retirement reform package for public employees that includes teachers. For those hired after July 1, 2006, retirement security will be based on the market-driven nature of a 401(k) plan. The success of this retirement scheme for employees will depend on annual wage growth.
According to the administration's actuarial projections that were trumpeted to push through the retirement changes, wages must grow 3.75 to 4.5 percent annually for the 401(k) plan to work.
So since the governor and the Legislature have set the bar for compensation increases and health care contributions, they now have assumed the responsibility of helping communities live up to those requirements.
And if the governor has any doubts about the proposed increase in teachers' compensation, he should compare their proposal to the far more generous salary increases political appointees and politicians have enjoyed recently.
In May, Gov. Murkowski supported legislation that gave all 14 commissioners, the governor and the lieutenant governor a 37 percent raise. In June, legislators voted to give themselves a 131 percent raise in per diem.
To put those numbers into context, over the past 20 years, teachers' salaries have increased by an average of 1.36 percent per year.
The governor should immediately step forward and commit to next year's education funding level to avert a potential strike. In addition, he should finally propose an adequate long-term fiscal plan that provides a sustainable stream of education funding so that districts can plan for the future.
With oil at $60 and a billion-dollar surplus being projected, now is the time to stabilize education funding. Communities like Anchorage should not have to suffer through this same drama every three years.
This choice affects us all. Lucky for us, it doesn't have to be a Hobson's choice.
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