Letter to the Editor:  Bravo Scarsdale Teachers!

March 5, 2010
by Elinor and Peter Griffith

We’re all familiar with the concept of it taking a village to raise a child. We were delighted to learn recently that the Scarsdale teachers union has voted to cut their raises, voluntarily, by 1% until 2012 – or by $1.9 million. Could this be relevant for Chappaqua?

Every decision-making constituency in our village – school board, administrators, teachers, other school staff and ultimately taxpayers voting on the budget – needs to do its part to be sure that Chappaqua schools maintain excellence while not killing off the not-so-hearty taxpayer. It seems to us the Scarsdale example of a voluntary giveback is one our excellent teachers could duplicate. Two years remain in the Chappaqua teacher contract where salaries currently average $104,000 and are expected, according to the Board of Education, to increase in the 2010 – 2011 school year by 5.2% … at a cost of millions of scarce dollars.

At the Chappaqua School Board meeting on February 23, the Board proposed a budget with a 2.24% increase. Through the use of reserves and other cutbacks, this is trimmed back from an earlier budget with a 5.2% increase – indications the School Board and Administration are working diligently to curtail expenses and be fiscally responsible. This is an excellent start.

Our suggestion, radical as it may sound, is for a 2010 - 2011 zero percent budget increase. 

As young families struggle and empty-nesters question staying here, as property owners look for work, a zero percent budget increase – for the second year in a row – would help our town’s taxpayers enormously. We strongly encourage the School Board and Superintendent Fleishman to continue to sharpen their pencils and propose such a budget. 

This brings us back to Scarsdale as a model for reaching a zero budget increase. What happened there? According to Victoria Presser, the director of Public Information for the Scarsdale Public Schools, the teachers actually reopened their contract and offered up 1% of their upcoming raises. The rest of the deal – extending their contract by one year and the Board’s promise not to lay off any teachers – isn’t acceptable for Chappaqua, of course, from a fiduciary standpoint. But the fact remains that the union did reopen the door….

So good start Scarsdale! If our teachers voluntarily reopen the contract and give back 1 or 2%, no strings attached, and if our school leadership can press on for other efficiencies, a zero percent budget increase is possible. This would send a powerful message and make a big difference: 

  * Struggling families would try to hang in and keep their homes in Chappaqua.
  * Empty nesters would stay longer and help shoulder school expenses.
  * Our realtors could use this message for attracting buyers:  Look, they can say, our schools unlike many places in Westchester are serious about excellence AND low school tax increases.

In this recession, shouldn’t everyone in our village be doing his or her part to help our children?

To see NCNOW.org’s collected articles on the School District’s 2010-2011 budget process, click HERE.

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