Georgia teachers shocked by Fayette plan

Teachers around Georgia are shocked that Fayette County school officials would consider asking teachers and other school employees to voluntarily give up recent pay raises to cut costs and possibly avoid layoffs.

“Teachers are being hurt in this economy, too,” said Tim Callahan, spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, an advocacy group.

“This is a bumper-sticker idea that may sound good but is not practical,” he said. “This is an attempt at a quick fix for what is a complex and challenging problem.”

The idea of using the teachers’ raise money surfaced Monday night near the end of a meeting as school officials wrestled with ways to cover an anticipated budget deficit of about $1.8 million. State law requires each school system to have a balanced budget.

The paycheck givebacks, in the form of furloughs, would save the school district $2 million, officials said.

“Something has to be done,” superintendent John DeCotis said at the board meeting. “It’s a matter of what has the least impact on students.”

By Tuesday, school officials softened their stand, saying any plan would have to get unanimous approval from all the school system’s employees, not just its 1,800 teachers, in a survey to soon be distributed. The board meets again Jan. 27.

“In order for it to be even considered, we would have to have 100 percent of all of our employees agree on the survey,” said Fayette schools’ spokeswoman Melinda Berry-Dreisbach. “We feel like we owe it to our employees to let them tell us. If we don’t get 100 percent, it wouldn’t be fair to look at it.”

Callahan said the pay raises in question, given last spring and already under way, were a basic cost-of-living increase and not some extravagant bonus, he said. The raises, totaling $4 million, are coming from school coffers. The state had been scheduled to pay for half, but reneged after slashing state education budgets.

About 20 Fayette County teachers, worried and dismayed over the suggestion, sent e-mails Tuesday morning to Jeff Hubbard, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, a professional organization that represents 40,000 Georgia teachers. Fayette’s teachers are not represented by a union.

“You don’t put it on the backs of those who are providing services to children every day,” Hubbard said.

Several teachers said they felt blindsided by the suggestion but declined to be interviewed.

The money would be recovered as furlough days, meaning employees would not have to individually pony up for any of the cash.

The request highlights the severe difficulties facing the school system in the wake of unexpected state budget cuts and plummeting property tax revenues in a struggling economy.

In November, DeKalb County school leaders laid off employees and cut back on busing because of the souring economy and state funding cuts.

The DeKalb school board also eliminated scheduled step salary increases that were to begin this month. Step increases are salary supplements based on an employee’s years of experience.

In Monday night’s discussion, Fayette County board members Bob Todd and Marion Key referred to teachers in Montgomery County, Md., who cited the poor economy when they agreed last month to forego 5.3 percent raises promised to them.

“They did it to protect the jobs of everybody,” Todd said.

Their raises, however, were not expected until the 2010 fiscal year. Fayette County’s school employees could be asked for sooner givebacks.

The unionized Maryland teachers allowed the state’s largest school system to balance its budget by saving $89 million, said Dan Kaufman, a spokesman for the Maryland State Teachers Association.

In exchange, the Maryland teachers took home some big concessions in health care benefits and other promises, Kaufman said.