Presented by: Peter Kohler Vice President of Editorial Services Long Island
April 23, 2010
This may come as a surprise, but some Long Island teachers are willing to freeze their pay.
In fact, some Long Island teachers are forgoing raises they negotiated so their schools can weather an enormous cut in state school aid resulting from Albany's $7.4 billion budget deficit.
Last week, educators in the Half Hollow Hills School District agreed to a temporary pay freeze for one year, starting in 2011, while teachers in Roslyn and Port Washington negotiated contracts without annual raises. Brentwood and Sag Harbor teachers are considering wage freezes too
The same issue has led to war in New Jersey, where Governor Chris Christie urged voters to disapprove school budgets in districts where teachers refuse to accept a temporary pay freeze. This week, voters embraced Christie's message, rejecting school budgets in 58 percent of the state's school districts.
Though Assemblywoman Ginny Fields of Suffolk County and others have proposed a teacher pay freeze for New York, teacher union chief Richard Ianuzzi brushed them off. He prefers higher taxes.
So give credit to those Long Island teacher organizations and their leaders who have accepted a temporary pay freeze. As teachers know so well, leadership qualities can best be taught by example.
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Should more Long Island school districts adopt temporary teacher pay freezes to offset cuts in state school aid? Take our online poll at http://www.CablevisionEditorials.com
