The median HOUSEHOLD incomes in Ridgewood are $138,000… teachers work for 10 months a year with tenure in many cases, so if you annualize teacher pay for 12 months work, they get paid paid the same as an entire household at the median in Ridgewood, i.e. $118,000 for 10 months = $136,000 for 12 months, with the added safety of tenured job security. Add in:
1) taxpayer subsidized $28,000 annual family “platinum” health benefit plan, which is much better than the average private sector employer plan (equivalent to “bronze”), and has much lower premiums, $5-10 co-pays, and covers up to 96% of all billable costs; as well as,
2) defined benefit pension plans for life which TPAF members contribute less than 7.5% of their annual wages towards (still!) and start drawing at an average age of 62 in NJ which can be worth over $2 million if the retiree lives to average US lifespan; and,
3) sick leave which gets carried over year after year instead of the “use it or lose it” sick leave offered by private sector employers
It becomes very clear that teachers have a MUCH better deal than the median Ridgewood household, which pays much higher health plan co-pays and deductibles for less health benefit coverage (on average, private sector plans only cover 84% of medical expenses), loses unused sick leave that cannot be carried over, runs the risk of job loss, and contributes up to 16% of their annual wages towards defined contribution pension plans, i.e. 401(k) plans. Combined teacher benefits are already too high even for well qualified, experienced, certified, professionals… which, by the way, is not what we got from the REA in the 2015/16 academic year. We got petulant, greedy, bad faith, so-called professionals who let our kids and schools down in a multitude of ways, from recommendation letters, to after school programs and activities, to community outreach. Notice the lack of signs supporting teachers in Ridgewood; we’ve had enough.
Teachers: SETTLE NOW! Do it for the kids.
Rather than appreciate what a good deal they have, the teachers are selfish and greedy.
#DoItFerDaKidz
There should be a deadline even if it is 12 31
Let them strike..then open up the whole pay and benefits situation
If not now / then when.?..never is a long time given th 102 plus Million dollar cost for the taxpayers on a rolling annual basis..out largest cost..
I support teachers and think that they perform a invaluable service to our children. I would love for them to make more money but our taxes are at the breaking point and we just can’t afford to give them what they want. They need to get used to the idea of higher co-pays and 401K’s like the people that pay their salary. And please, PLEASE don’t bring up what Wall Street guys make. Number 1, there are fewer and fewer of those guys around. Number 2, Wall Street guys have 401K’s and not pensions and all have $40 co-pays. Time to come into the new century.
BOE must hold the line. It is time for teachers and there union to come uno the real world and stop thinking this is the nineteen fifties, the burden on taxpayers is too high for a school system that is slipping in the so called rankings.
The first paragraph of this “article” is misleading. First of all, tenure does not affect teacher pay. Secondly, although I am aware that it was an example, there is not one step on the salary guide that makes $118,000 regardless of the degree you hold. In fact, it is not until you reach step 16 on the salary guide with a doctorate that you even touch $100,00 (unless you get a stipend for coaching etc). Finally, if you make $75,000, just to keep things more realistic, that is what you make whether you get paid for 10 months or 12 months. It’s not like you get extra for the summer! If you take your pay over 10 months (and I am not even sure whether Ridgewood has a 12 month option because not every district does) then you do not get paid over the summer months.
The first paragraph of this “article” is misleading. First of all, tenure does not affect teacher pay. Second of all, Ridgewood teachers do not even come close to $118,000 anywhere on the guide regardless of the degree held. In fact, a teacher does not even touch $100,000 until they are on step 16 with a doctorate. Finally, if a teacher makes $75,000, to keep things more realistic, that is their annual salary whether they get 10 month pay or 12 month pay (which is not even an option in some districts). Most teachers do not make anything over the summer unless it comes from a second job. Let’s keep things real.
Nice union tactics 1:50 and 2:01, you must be an REA/NJEA full-time “consultant”. Try to muddy the waters and completely ignore the original posters concerns about excessive healthcare, pensions, and wage increases which are the key concerns here, and try to bog these legitimate taxpayer concerns with semantics about 10 months versus 12 months. Clearly you’re a union lackey, enough is enough. #taxedtodeath
Okay, let’s “keep things real” 2:01… Headline in the news today: “Wall Street Whacks Pay Hardest in Four Years to Preserve Profits.” Does that mean Ridgewood taxpayers who work in the city get to “whack” teacher pay and benefits as well?
looks like it
Let them all leave.
I’m sure we can hire new teachers in an instant.
The shake-up might even do some good and revitalize a gentrified school system
Go ahead Strike.
My co-pays have gone up, and so has my share of the premiums. Real life.
If these malcontent teachers were wise, they would heed the comments above. Why should they be immune to the realities of our current economy. Most of us have had to tighten our belts considerably. It appears as if quite a fewr Ridgewood taxpayers feel the teachers have already been offered a pretty good deal. I am in complete agreement with 4:42 and I’m not sure I really want any of those who are so unhappy with their remuneration around my kids.
It’s a pity that the BOE is listening to the drivel posted on this blog.
“Once again tonight the BOE has refused to accept the report from the impartial State Appointed Fact Finder. In fact the Board has not improved its position since February, and tonight presented nothing new to the REA negotiating team.The BOE continues in its position that it cannot afford the Fact Finder report. The impartial Fact Finder examined the Board’s books when he made his recommendation. Despite the BOE’s false statements, the report shows it has the resources to fund the recommended settlement. If the BOE cuts programs, it will not be because of the REA. Instead the Board is using scare tactics and the threat of cutting programs as an attempt to scapegoat the REA. This is no time for divisiveness; instead it is time for compromise. But as long as the Board remains set in their discredited “cost neutral” position, until it is willing to truly negotiate, this impasse will not end.
This meeting was the last chance of a settlement before September. Its failure to negotiate tonight means that teachers and secretaries will return to work beginning their second year under an expired contract. In addition, the Ridgewood Administrators Association (RAA) contract has also expired. The recalcitrance of the Board now means that in addition to teachers and secretaries, every principal, assistant principal, and supervisor will also begin September under an expired contract. This should not be acceptable in Ridgewood.
The Board needs to stop posturing and begin the work of negotiating in good faith to settle this contract. The BOE obviously, as stated in its email to the school community, is NOT “prepared to stay as long as needed to finalize the settlement and reach an agreement on a successor contract”.