Schools

Watertown Teachers Getting Mixed Message From Budget Talks

Watertown officials both praised the work of the town's teachers, but some want their raise to be rejected.

Watertown’s teachers were the focus of much of , but the messages may be mixed as officials said they were both the most important part of the district but some also called for their raise to be rejected.

The question of the raise will be decided shortly. At Monday’s School Committee meeting, members will vote on the proposed Watertown teachers contract, a major piece of the fiscal 2012 school budget.

The Memorandum of Agreement between school officials and the Watertown Educators Association calls for a 1.5-percent raise for the teachers. Some Town Councilors at Wednesday’s joint meeting with the School Committee, called for rejecting the contract as a way to close a budget gap of more than $1 million.

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Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli said the town can not afford to give raises right now. He urged the School Committee to turn down the teacher’s raise, which would save an estimated $287,000. If the raise was passed on to other school unions it would add another $100,000 to the school budget.

“I wish we had a way to provide raises for all employees this year, it’s hard for everyone,” Piccirilli said. “Soscial security had no benefit increase, so senior citizens on fixed incomes got no increase. And (President) Obama voted to freeze federal salaries for two years.

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“I am not talking about doing anything that we are not asking from other people in this country.”

School Committee Chairman Anthony Paolillo said the budget remains up the air because some major items remain unresolved, including the teacher's contract. Also, school officials are waiting for the state to announce the amount Watertown will receive for the special education Circuit Breaker ($400,000 in the governor's budget) and how much the Legislature will give the town in Local Aid.

At the same time Piccirilli and his colleagues urged the School Committee to only layoff teachers as the last resort. 

“Classroom teachers are the key to making the (school) system work,” said Town Councilor Cecilia Lenk.

Piccirilli said the teachers are the key to a good experience for students.

“Like any department we want the schools to provide services, which for the school department is the classroom experience for children,” Piccirilli said.

The talk of rejecting the raise has not helped the work atmosphere for Watertown teachers, said Debra King, a Hosmer teacher and president of the Watertown Educators Association.

“Rather than recommending that the School Committee address the mismanagement of the school budget as a way to fill the gap, [Piccirilli] recommended that teachers pay the shortfall,” King said, according to the Watertown Tab. “In fact, the MOA would cost so little that [he] had to go so far as to not only recommend that the MOA be voted down but to ask for further concessions by the teachers.

“Morale is extremely low in this school system, we have already lost several superior teachers and what I heard [last night] will only make it worse.”

Parents, too, have been confused by the discussions. Judy Beecher, a Hosmer parent, said parents are getting mixed messages when she addressed the Town Councilors and School Committee members at Wednesday’s meeting.

“It’s frustrating because it seems like parents have been pitted against teachers and now it seems like you are pitting parents against administration,” Beecher said.

Both had personal issues that night, said School Committee Vice Chairman John Portz.


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