Teacher union gives up $3.1M pay raise

Faced with mounting layoffs, one of Long Island's biggest teacher unions has given up an estimated $3.1 million in pay raises already negotiated for the next school year, and settled for a temporary freeze instead.

With about 70 percent of members voting "yes," the union representing 600 teachers and other professionals at Eastern Suffolk BOCES has approved the unusual freeze for the 2011-12 school year. The vote was held Tuesday.

Wednesday, BOCES Educators of Eastern Suffolk president Thelma Shaw voiced hope the revised contract would save jobs, though there are no guarantees.

"I think our members felt something had to be done to save the younger teachers, because they are the future of our organization," Shaw said.

Without the contract change, teachers had been due raises next year based on average pay hikes given other teachers in the BOCES region, which covers central and eastern Suffolk. BOCES officials estimate those raises would have averaged about 3.5 percent when combined with annual "step" increases built into contract schedules.

The revised contract includes a one-year extension, through 2013-14. The last two years of the contract still provide raises, based on regional averages.

About 800 teacher assistants and aides also represented by the union are to vote Monday on their two-year contract extension providing annual 2.5 percent raises, mostly offset by increases in medical-insurance contributions. Shaw expects that agreement to pass.

The current economic downturn has put pressure on the Island's three regional BOCES, which charge tuition for student services, including job training. In central and eastern Suffolk, some local school districts have sought to reduce tuition expenses by sending fewer teens to BOCES centers, and this has resulted in layoffs.

This year, Eastern Suffolk BOCES cut 89 positions out of 2,500, and union leaders have predicted further reductions next year. Gary Bixhorn, the agency's chief operating officer, says contract revisions will help hold the line on tuition - currently $11,583 per student for occupational training.

"I think this is a clear indication that teachers understand the gravity of the economic situation," Bixhorn said, adding the agreement is expected to save his agency $8 million over three years.

Western Suffolk BOCES, which serves schools in Huntington, Babylon and Smithtown, renegotiated its teacher contract last spring. The revisions reduce next year's raises, including "steps," from 4.7 percent to 3.7 percent, and raise employees' health insurance contributions, according to Michael Mensch, the chief operating officer there.

At Nassau BOCES, the teachers' contract expires in June. The agency's superintendent, Thomas Rogers, says negotiations there will begin early next year. "Obviously, we are carefully following developments in our component districts and neighboring BOCES," Rogers said.

The new agreement for Eastern Suffolk BOCES brings to at least a dozen the number of districts that have negotiated pay freezes and other concessions with teacher unions across the Island. Most teachers continue to get raises, however. A Newsday survey last spring that obtained detailed salary information for 45 districts found median teacher raises, including "steps," were 5 percent - more than triple the current inflation rate.

Other teacher concessionsA sampler, by school district, of recent teacher-contract concessions across Long Island:

Brentwood