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Kathy Bowers address to the May 10, 2010 Town Council and BOE Budget Meeting I am Kathy Bowers, and I am proud to be the President of the Wyckoff Education Association. On behalf of the Association I want to thank the Town Council for including us in on this process.  It’s a shame that for 22 contested votes so much time and energy has to be expended. For those of you that are our guests here tonight and not aware of the makeup of the WEA, I would like to take a few minutes to introduce you to the people that will be directly affected by the decisions you make here tonight, regardless of what those decisions may be.   Will the proud members of the Wyckoff Education Association please stand? Gentlemen of the council and ladies and gentlemen in the audience, these people come from all walks of life, just like you and I.  Some are married with families to support, some are single and are out on their own, some are trying to complete a master’s degree or better so they can be better equipped to educate the children of Wyckoff.  They pay mortgages or rent, utility bills and car payments. They purchase food, gas, and clothing.  They are the staff members that care deeply about your children.  Please join me in thanking them for the outstanding job they do, day in and day out.  Please be seated. Most of the staff members travel 30 minutes or more to come to work because their paycheck doesn’t afford them to live in this area.  Some live paycheck to paycheck because they love teaching.  That was a choice we all made and knew we would never see the salaries our friends were and are making.  Yes some of our friends are without work, but so are some teachers.  We are not at the top of the Bergen County guide as many people believe.  We are in the middle.   It has taken us nine years to crawl from a below average salary, to the average salary we have today.  61% of the staff already hold second jobs to make ends meet. It sure makes for a long day.  Yet day in and day out we meet your child with a smile, because that’s who we are.  We are professionals; we are not second-class citizens.  So why are we the only ones, that any time there is a budget crunch, we are the ones asked to give back year after year after year.  For some reason Governor Christie has led an attack on teachers in particular, with disregard to who we are, where we live, or how much we make.  He has collectively placed a black cloud over our heads.  What is disappointing is that people are buying into it.  They are seeing dollar signs that he is promising, and not bothering to check out the facts.   I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a 1.5% reduction of our salary or health insurance contribution will bring each household a total of $15.  By standards of wealth, there is only one category above Wyckoff.  Many of you have chosen to live in Wyckoff because of the good school district.  The same reason many of us have chose to teach here. Governor Christie has led you to believe that we are wealthy and lazy.  We already negated wealthy.  Let me invite you to come by any school an hour before it starts and a few hours after the students are dismissed.  Many of the staff not running off to another job, are still there and we are not getting paid overtime.  We are anything but lazy.  We are always raising money for good causes; we always go the extra mile.  If you need proof just look at the courtyards.  The two at Eisenhower were completely orchestrated by teachers, I being one of them, and funded by grants and outside donations.  This was completed  all on our own time. So why are we the only ones hit in the pocketbook.  For those of you who are saying a contribution to health insurance would be nice.  Let me remind you that two years ago we agreed to accept a lesser health plan to save the district $600,000 just on the WEA staff alone.  Now the district may say, you had to agree to the plan, but the truth is no we did not.  By contract our health insurance has to be equal to or better than.  This plan is not.  Members are paying $1000 or more out of pocket due to an increased deductible and an ill presented prescription plan.  The district saved over $600,000 the following year and to date the cost is still less than the original health plan.   We are contributing to our health insurance. Once every three years, the taxpayers of Wyckoff, via the elected representatives, make a commitment to compensate us for the work we do.  Now, for reasons that have nothing to do with us, they wish not to follow through on their commitment.  Not because we haven’t held up our end of the bargain, not because the average Wyckoff family is in such economic straits, but mostly because we have a governor in Trenton that is egging them on to change the rules. We can’t loose focus on why we have to increase the budget.  It is not due to an increase in teacher’s salaries.  We have staff members who have retired a year early to cover the salary increase and save other staff member’s jobs.    It is not due to the administrators or police or town workers salary.  It is due to the governor’s cut in public school state aide.  That seems to get lost in the shuffle.  We would not be here tonight if the state aide wasn’t cut, unless people vote down the school budget just because they can.  In that case anything you do will not make them happy. Members of the Town Council, each year you are notified of the publics opinion about the budget, by the votes cast in the voting booth, not by comments placed on line or comments in the parking lot or sports events, which are framed around hear say and not facts.   As you and I both know you hear from a very small percentage of the population, and normally you only hear from the people who are unhappy.   The budget was defeated by 22 votes and if the circumstances of that day were different many believe it would have passed.   As you contemplate the 22 votes and your budget decisions, please take all this into consideration.  Life changes from day to day and you never know what tomorrow will bring.   I had a tree fall on my house Saturday evening and an event like that puts life in perspective.  Six more inches to the left and I would not be standing here tonight.  God is good!!!   $15 a year will not affect the taxpayers in Wyckoff, but a reduction in salary may make the difference whether a staff member will loose their car or house.  It does make a difference to us.  Remember it is not anyone’s fault except the Governors and he is the one putting pressure on the Town Councils and School Boards to get the teacher’s to freeze their salary. Next year he is calling for a pay cap of 2.5% on salary increases.  Add to that the health care contribution of 1.5%.  Do the math....  who will be the teachers of tomorrow?  He is destroying what was once the top educational system in the Nation.   He needs to clean up his own house.   Don’t let him destroy the education of your child, and the educational system in Wyckoff.   Our children are the future of tomorrow.  We recommend to the Town Council and the Board of Education that no additional educational positions or programs be cut from the 2010/2011 budget. Furthermore I would like to invite everyone to join the WEA staff at a rally at Bergen Community College on Thursday, June 3 3-5 PM ”Standing up, standing together” we can and will make a difference.  We will save education in New Jersey.  Thank you.

 

 

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