Mayor's Plan to Save Teachers Explained

Teachers and principals are breathing a sigh of relief. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called off plans to lay off 4,400 teachers this fall. But that doesn't mean he isn't asking them to make some sacrifices. WNYC's Beth Fertig and Amy Eddings discuss the decision, and what schools can expect in September.

The mayor says he's asking principals and teachers to forgo any raises in order to keep teachers from being laid off. Can he do this?

He can ask them to do whatever he wants. Both unions are without a contract right now, they expired months ago. So nobody's getting any raises right now--although everyone still gets their regular salaries. That's why both the teachers union and the union that represents the principals and supervisors say the mayor needs to negotiate with them. The contract talks between the city and the teachers union are actually at an impasse--a state board is helping to mediate them. So the mayor put this on the table very publicly, he said you can keep your jobs, but you have to agree to give up your pay raise. The city's previous offer was a 2 percent raise for teachers and principals, which was less than other unions got. The average was 4 percent.

How much money will that save if they agree? Is it enough to prevent other cuts to the schools?

No. If the teachers and the principals get no raises, the city says that will save $400 million a year. But, the city's shortfall for this coming year is $750 million because of expected cuts in state aid and growing costs. So there's still a gap. The chancellor this morning sent a letter to principals telling them to expect cuts of about 4 percent on average at their schools. That's a lot less than they feared, but they might still have to cut back on things like school aides and after-school programs. They had a 5 percent cut last year. And there are 2,000 teaching positions the city can't afford to fill now. They're going to let those go through attrition, meaning as teachers retire they won't be replaced. The chancellor says that means some classes may get a little bit bigger.

How are the principals and teachers feeling? Do you think they'll agree to go without pay raises for the next 2 years?

I spoke to a principal in Manhattan who was very relieved. She would have lost a couple of teachers. And she said she had a meeting with her staff where people didn't grumble about going without a pay raise. They know the economy is really bad. And since the mayor's previous offer was only 2 percent, she said they didn't feel like they were losing a lot. But we also heard from a teacher in the Bronx who said she thought the mayor was just making empty threats all along. And then we heard from another new teacher who was very happy with the mayor's proposal because new teachers would have been the first to go under the last hired first fired rules.

I should add that teachers make $72,000 a year on average, although new teachers make much less. That's better than it used to be. They got big raises under Bloomberg's watch. But they may want something now in exchange for giving up their raise. Maybe they could get some time--they agreed to work a longer school day in exchange for a raise a few years ago. We'll see what comes up at the bargaining table.

Does that signal that the mayor and the unions have given up on Albany?

No, not completely. The schools couldn't afford to wait any longer to plan for the fall, so that's why the mayor and the chancellor say they had to come up with a plan today. But, they also made it clear that they still want to get as much as they can from Albany. Both unions agreed to work hand in hand with the city to lobby for state aid and they're hoping Congress will pass a bill that would give schools extra stimulus funds to help them through this weak economy. So they have not given up on Albany yet.