Decentralize Schools for Success

Comparing the USA and Finland demographics is like comparing apples and oranges.  I am not in favor of Educational programs centralized with the Federal Government as in Finland, and in the USA to some extent.  The more decentralized your schools are, the better.  Home Schooling in USA is the best example of decentralized success.  Then comes voucher education where parents are given grants or vouchers and choose which public, private or parochial school they wish their children to go to.  Then comes charter schools where the unions have less control and the teachers are highly motivated to innovate new education techniques.  In last place is the traditional consolidated public school system which we have now.  Trying to improve things in a traditional consolidated public school system, where the teacher's unions are in control is fruitless.  The results are higher local school taxes, less economic activity moving in, less school population, closing of schools, more higher taxes, and on and on.  That is what we have now in Ulster and Dutchess counties and NY State.  Think decentralization.  Think lots of independent schools paid for by parental school vouchers.  You will have involved parents who are carefully choosing the correct schools for their children.  You will have lots of teaching jobs for our unemployed college graduates who want to be teachers.  You will have lower school taxes, and you will have companies wanting to come and locate in Ulster and Dutchess counties again.

Triborough Amendment is about Step Raises Not Strikes

The following was posted by E.J. McMahon on June 20, 2012 on the NYTorch.com blog.

"Unions have long claimed that there was a link between Triborugh and the strike prohibition.  But this is simply not true.

'As explained in our recent report, “Triborough Trouble,” the law was not enacted pursuant to any “agreement by unions not to strike.” Public employee strikes have never been legally permissible in New York. They were explicitly outlawed by the Condon-Wadlin Act in 1947, a full 20 years before unionization and collective bargaining in the public sector was authorized on a statewide basis. In 1967, the Taylor Law reaffirmed the strike ban, weakening some of the more draconian Condon-Wadlin strike penalties.

The Triborough amendment was enacted in 1982, based on a “doctrine” cooked up by a state labor arbitrator a decade earlier. In the mid 1970s, the state Court of Appeals ruled the Triborough doctrine did not require payment of automatic “step” increases after expiration of a contract, which is why public employee unions fought for the stronger law. They got it,'

So therefore the Triborough Amendment is all about Step Raises and nothing about unions ability to strike.

Three Points in Favor of Repealing Triborough

1)  New York State is the only state in the USA that gives municipal, state and teachers unions the unfair advantages of the Triborough Amendment. 

2)  The overwhelming majority of government union contracts in NY State have Automatic step raises in them.  Try getting these provisions out of these contracts.  With Automatic step raises for everyone across the board including poor performers, NY State with the Triborough Amendment has truly rigged labor negotiations in favor of the government unions.

3)  Private company unions do not have a Automatic step raises guaranteed to continue after contracts expire.

The government unions are going to have to give up this Triborough benefit or the only alternatives are school district and municipal bankruptcy which would cancel all current contracts

See 3 bankrupt cities in California.

See Kingston Schools Superintendant Padalino's comments in a past Freeman article (June 13, 2012) which states that the Kingston Schools are facing "Education bankruptcy".

Support Assemby bill to Repeal Triborough Amendment

After 5 years, the $25 Million savings from closing 4 Kingston Schools will have been spent on Automatic Teacher step raises, pensions and health benefits. They are closing schools so they can keep the "rigged" game of unsustainable teacher benefits growing. If we citizens of NY State want to do something serious about this disaster, ask you NY State Assembly and Senate candidates to support Westchester Assemblyman Robert Castelli's assembly bill A01329, which would Repeal the Triborough Amendment. With this bill, no longer would teacher, municipal and state unions have the Unfair advantage of continuing Automatic Step Raises after a contract has expired. We really need this bill.

Kingston Schools - Bold Plan with Blinders On

The recent Kingston Schools plan to close 4 elementary schools is a Bold Plan with Blinders On...........The Blinders are giving teachers Automatic Step Raises.  We must privatize and charter-ize our public schools or in 5 years the Kingston District will be on the rocks again due to Teacher Automatic Step Raises eating up the school closing savings and breaking the budget once again.  Take the Blinders Off and see that the funding of the Kingston School district is benefitting the teachers, not the students.  With Private schools or Charter schools, the teacher's unions will have less influence.  We should pay each teacher according to their yearly performance.  Every teacher should not get the same raise.  There is no incentive for teachers to do well if they are guaranteed an Automatic Step Raise.  Please take the blinders off and save our schools, save our local economy and our children's future.

Health Alliance Problems are Screaming Lawsuit

The main reason Health Alliance has severe red ink is the $10 Million Medicare Reimbursement Unfairness with Dutchess County.  This year and going back at least 8 years, Ulster County's hospitals get reimbursed $10 Million less than Dutchess County for the same proceedures.  The federal government, ie. Congress and the President have damaged Ulster County in the Medicare Reimbursement laws on the books.  Over the past 8 years, our politicians of both parties have failed big time to correct this unfairness.  As a direct result of this unfairness, one of the hospital campuses might close. There has been severe ($80 Million) damage done to the citizens of Kingston and Ulster County over the past 8 years by the Federal government.  This situation screams for a lawsuit by Health Alliance against the Federal Government.

Our public schools are sinking like Titanic

The Triborough Amendment, which destroys Collective Bargaining with teacher unions and all municipal unions.  For example with Triborough in place, teacher union contracts always start with the last signed contract as a floor.  These unions rarely give concessions unless they get something back.  If you get rid of Triborough, each contract could give the school districts and taxpayers a clean sheet to write a new sensible budget.  HOWEVER, school districts do not have to wait for repeal of the Triborough Amendment..........They can get rid of step pay raises for seniority which kick in every year.  In the Kingston Schools, step raises increase the budget by
$1.2 Million each year...........So what do we have to look forward to if we do not reign in teacher's unions......more closing of schools, less teachers and eventual bankruptcy of our school districts.