Hard Times hit Teacher Pay

NEW BRITAIN--Sometime this spring, teachers in this cash-strapped school system will begin negotiating their next labor contract, and, once again, they will face an unpleasant choice: Give up pay raises or give up jobs.

Here and other beleaguered school systems across the state, many teachers and other union employees are foregoing raises and making other concessions as Connecticut weathers the worst financial crisis in decades.

"We're treading water but sinking rapidly," said Ronda Barker, president of the New Britain Federation of Teachers. "It's very difficult to negotiate in this climate."

In contracts signed within the last year, the average raise for a teacher is less than 1 percent in the current school year and about 3 percent each of the next two years. That's far less than the average raise of 5 percent annually on contracts signed during the 2007-08 school year, according to the Connecticut Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.

In addition, in a handful of contested teacher contracts resolved under the state's arbitration law last year, arbitrators favored school boards over unions on salary issues three to one, according to CEA figures.

"None of that surprises me. That's all about what we're seeing nationwide," said Michael Griffith, senior policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States, which monitors education trends in the 50 states.

"In some cases, we're seeing teachers taking furlough days. In other cases, lower pay," he said. "Pay freezes are really common right now, [and] increasing contributions to health care.

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