Union again calls for tax increase
By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer
AUGUSTA -- The union that represents 25,000 Maine school employees called on legislators again Tuesday to raise taxes to prevent $34 million in cuts proposed for state education funding.
Katherine Ayer, an art teacher in the Fayette and Manchester elementary schools, right, talks to Rep. Matthew Peterson, D-Rumford, at a Maine Educators Association event Tuesday night at the Augusta Civic Center.
Joe Phelan
At a legislative dinner reception at the Augusta Civic Center, Maine Education Association officials urged lawmakers to consider a temporary, 1-cent hike in the state sales tax or a 50-cent cigarette tax hike.
"Without increased revenue, we will be forced to make drastic cuts," Patti English, a Winthrop music teacher and president of the Winthrop Education Association, told more than 200 central and western Maine teachers and more than a dozen legislators. "During these tough times, we should not be cutting one of our most valuable resources: public education."
State education funds would slip to $930 million for the 2010-11 academic year under the supplemental budget legislators are working to finalize. That's down from the $964 million school districts are receiving this year in state subsidies.
"The cuts to funding of education will send the state backwards," said Larry Morrissette, a Maranacook Community High School music teacher and president of the Maranacook Education Association.
Maine Education Association leaders have repeatedly called on legislators to consider a temporary sales tax hike as the state deals with diminishing revenues. But the union officials' push for more tax revenue is in direct opposition to Gov. John Baldacci's pledge to balance the budget without raising taxes.
"Arguing for tax increases is never easy," said Christopher Galgay, the union's president, "but neither is laying off a teacher."
Legislators at Tuesday's reception were doubtful that the union-requested tax hike would pass legislative muster.
"I think we need to reserve these options for the next session," said Sen. Lisa Marrache, D-Waterville.
That's when legislators will likely be dealing with another difficult budget, Marrache said. And state education coffers will no longer have the benefit of the $59 million in federal economic stimulus funds that are propping up 2010-11 school budgets.
Rep. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, said raising taxes specifically to benefit public education is a difficult proposition.
"If you increase a tax, everybody's going to want a piece of it," he said.
Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435
mstone@centralmaine.com
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48 COMMENTS
Jarody said...
How about this? Merit based pay for you. No new taxes for me.
March 10, 2010 at 12:12 AM Report abuse
reddevil974 said...
how about we do the same as Rhode Island and fire all of them and start over with no union this way we the taxpayer have more of a say instead of union Bosses telling augusta what to do Union Bust the teachers ! Union Bust the teachers ! they will make more money and we will have a better education system without the unions
March 10, 2010 at 2:01 AM Report abuse
Skeeziks said...
The tough guy days of the unions are over. Reagan saw to that. How doing like they did in Maryland and look at the school records and if the school is not producing, fire the lot of them. Teachers, wha wha wha 'it's all about the children' ha ha ha
March 10, 2010 at 6:21 AM Report abuse
taxwarden said...
The story fails to mention that the teachers union is still demanding a pay raise at a time when jobs are being cut.
March 10, 2010 at 6:25 AM Report abuse
Rinoblast said...
And this is why I didn't join the union...
March 10, 2010 at 6:29 AM Report abuse
lovely said...
When employers are cutting hours, cutting pay & laying off people?? Why should teachers be treated any different. I'd love to have a teaching job great pay, full family paid benefit and part-time hours! Talk about state employees having it so good! You've got to be kidding me!!
March 10, 2010 at 6:57 AM Report abuse
Govt2Big said...
If the Maine Education Association and the National Education Association really cares about their members, they shouldn't have given so many major political donations to "Citizens Unified for Maine's Future" (Source: http://www.mainecampaignfinance.com) and other Far-Left campaigns. It's time for major cuts!
March 10, 2010 at 7:15 AM Report abuse
Ripple said...
more taxes, that's the only answer they always arrive at. Maine already funds k-12 education, $4000 per student higher than the national average, with zero results. Eductaion depends on teacher/parent commitment, not increased payments to the Union.
March 10, 2010 at 7:52 AM Report abuse
ProConserv said...
The teachers union doesnt care about the children! The teachers union only cares about retaining liberal progressive brainwashers at top pay! This stratedgy will ensure a bright future for a new generation of liberal progressives to keep America weak! I agree with reddevil974...GET RID OF THE TEACHERS UNIONS!
March 10, 2010 at 8:16 AM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
So where are all of you who were, wrongly, complaining about lawyers influence (6%) in the Legislature two weeks ago now? It's teachers (18%) who are in control there and are serving themselves! Where's the outrage about that?
March 10, 2010 at 8:39 AM Report abuse
Sherman2 said...
Procon... your whole liberal brainwashing thing is kinda silly. What is not so silly is the way Maine has tackled this education issue, building new schools costing tens of millions in dollars while overlooking the students. A shiny new school never taught anyone a thing. Teachers should be able to teach in a tent and still get results.... But it's so much easier to throw money at an issue than to face the harder choices of rewarding good teachers and letting poor ones go...
March 10, 2010 at 8:41 AM Report abuse
JustFor5Now said...
They should raise the sales tax to 6% which is what they did in Indiana and now their schools are beautiful and they have the money they need. Raising property taxes is result in more For Sale signs which will further the ugliness that is already encompassing Maine.
March 10, 2010 at 9:01 AM Report abuse
JustFor5Now said...
They should raise the sales tax to 6% which is what they did in Indiana and now their schools are beautiful and they have the money they need. Raising property taxes will result in more "For Sale" signs which will further the ugliness that is already encompassing Maine.
March 10, 2010 at 9:04 AM Report abuse
Uk1NNDUwMQ%3D%3D said...
Wow obviously the people commenting here do not truely care about the children. I am not a member of the MEA but did attend last evening. People who are pushing merit pay, cutting teachers and "part-time" hours have not been in a school and do not understand the impacts this will have on the students. Do we really want teachers teaching to a standardized test so they can get better pay. They are already among the lowest paid professional positions. This part time argument is crazy, I know that just about every teacher is at school for a minimum of 8 hours. That is an 8 hour work day plus all the planning and work teachers have to do at home becasue there is simply not enough time in the day. I challenge the people proposing these ideas to spend a few weeks in a classroom and I believe there tune will change. If being a teacher is so cushy why don't you go get your degree and certification and take the "cushy" job.
March 10, 2010 at 9:09 AM Report abuse
Blackacre said...
Another greed grab attempt by the union. Sure, raise the regressive sales tax. The poor don't pay enough taxes anyway. I suggest the funds raised by such an increase will not improve public education one iota. The teachers should suffer like the rest of us. If they work harder, maybe a better-prepared group of Maine kids would enter the 21st century work force. Read the article in today's KJ about Maine's 10 worst performing schools. More money thrown at the teachers does not equate to better education.
March 10, 2010 at 9:35 AM Report abuse
Govt2Big said...
The MEA membership needs to wakeup and realize how badly they are being hosed/used by that PAC! The MEA and NEA are no longer true unions, as they really act more like a PAC these days. Just follow the money and you'll see this fact for yourself.
March 10, 2010 at 10:44 AM Report abuse
Tallone said...
why not use the republicans idea of personal responsibility? Anyone who decided to have a child and want to send them to school should pay more tan those without children!! Why should childless couples subsidize those who decided to put children in his world. So raise tuition!!! every parent should pay several hundred dollars to send their kids to school....and forgo the lat screen TV and gas guzzling SUV!
March 10, 2010 at 11:02 AM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
tallone, because access to esessential govenmental services shouldn't be alacarte. Is it your position that if a family can't afford to pay for schooling themselves the kids go uneducated? Or that a person who can't afford fire or police protection should go without when those services are needed? And who paid for the schools for those older (and therefore wealthier) property owners children before they had the benefits of accumulated wealth and value? Education of all benefits all. Stop being silly.
March 10, 2010 at 11:17 AM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
tallone, because access to essential governmental services shouldn't be alacarte. Is it your position that if a family can't afford to pay for schooling themselves the kids go uneducated? Or that a person who can't afford fire or police protection should go without when those services are needed? And who paid for the schools for those older (and therefore wealthier) property owners children before they had the benefits of accumulated wealth and value? Education of all benefits all. Stop being silly.
March 10, 2010 at 11:17 AM Report abuse
terry said...
yea,union controlled,fiananced by the government. how could it be self supporting. so many ways to cut back. no reimbursement for advanced schooling for the teachers,which then gives them a pay raise. don't tell me they are under paid..work 180 days a year with a 350 day pay scale they talk about working extra hours,boo hoo,even working 3 extra hours a day brings them up to 9 hours,big deal. guess waht come summer those extra hours go away,while in other jobs it goes all year long
March 10, 2010 at 2:54 PM Report abuse
baffled said...
Iam sorry I can no longer afford to pay for public service employees any longer. Cut jobs in Augusta or sell some of the real estate the government has stockpiled. Anybody see the new PUC building complete with fireplaces in the offices? That was a necessity. Still plenty of places to cut before whacking the producers some more.
March 10, 2010 at 3:06 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
Terry 2;54 pm You better do your math you will see it dose not go away in summer time. 180x3hrs a day = 540 hrs. At the very most they are off 8 weeks some less than that.Now at a 9 hrs work day thats a 45 hr week> Now divide 45 into 540 hrs an thats equel to 12 weeks so how dose that go away ??
March 10, 2010 at 3:55 PM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
Wolly, off 8 weeks? At least eight in the summer, 1 in Feb, 1in April, 1 plus in Dec and 1 in Nov PLUS all the 3 day weekends and "conference" days without kids. You do the math. Geez, must have a teaching degree.
March 10, 2010 at 4:01 PM Report abuse
Relax said...
Now folks are whining about teaching schedules. For crying out loud. Who do you think those school calendars were made for? Families, you knuckleheads. If you want these professionals to work the same work calendar that you do, then negotiate that into a reasonable pay package. I’m sure a lot of teachers would welcome more pay. You might even encourage brighter people away from degrees in medicine, law, physics, etc. and into education. What! You don’t want to pay them more for work more days/weeks/months? Then who the heck do you think is going to walk into your local schools and do that kind of a job? Yikes! I’m thinking that dealing with ignorance at every turn may not be as easy as some fools here seem to think it is.
March 10, 2010 at 4:19 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
What about the weekend trips that they take say for diffrent cubs or they are gone a week with the kids in school they don't get paid for that do they ? what about the pareint teacher nights that they have they don't get paid for that.So i would say it mite be a break even.
March 10, 2010 at 4:25 PM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
Another math puzzle for those with Education degrees; 180 school days div. by 5 day weeks equals 36 equivalent full-time weeks worked. That is 16 weeks without working, not 8. And yes Relax, they do get a fulltime salary already. It averages 40K for that 36 weeks in school. Know any other job available with a 4 yr degree that pays like that with similar benefits in the dreaded private sector? If so, hook me up.
March 10, 2010 at 4:26 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
im retired from BIW as a welder.
March 10, 2010 at 4:27 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
If you worked like that on the outside you would get paid over time an if you did not you would run right to Augusta to the labor board demanding you get payed over time.
March 10, 2010 at 4:34 PM Report abuse
Relax said...
Hillbilly, maybe not in the backwoods of Maine with a bunch of moon shining hillbillies running around but it's a great big world and the private sector offers much better pay than 40K to college grads with multiple years of experience. Note, if true your 40K is a bit misleading as it is an average between teachers with zero experience and those with 30 years of experience. You really think someone with a college degree in a specialized field and 10-20-30 years of experience can't make much better money than that in the private sector? Get real. You just want to whine.
March 10, 2010 at 4:43 PM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
What I want is for teachers to stop complaining about how hard they work. It is epidemic with them. And no I don't think there any jobs available in Maine where you get 40K a year to work the equivalent of 36, 40 hour weeks. Tell me one if you do.
March 10, 2010 at 4:54 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
If you think being a teacher is so easy why don;t you become a teacher than ?? When i retired from BIW as a welder i worked 40 hrs a week an i made 41,000 a year
March 10, 2010 at 5:06 PM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
Wooly, I'm sure you earned it too, all 52 weeks of it. I didn't say teaching was easy or for everyone, only that they are well compensated for a part time job. I think any taxpayer is free to comment on that even if they don't want to do it themselves. After all, I'm the pocket they want to reach into aren't I ?
March 10, 2010 at 5:13 PM Report abuse
Relax said...
Name any private enterprise/corporation/business and you have the ability to make 100K+++ owning it or working for it. I agree, opportunity to do such in Maine is less than other areas of the world, but what you're suggesting is that anyone who wants to and is capable of receiving a college degree will likely have to move out of state to earn a living. Ya know that’s been going on for about 30 + years. That would leave us with nothing but drunken hillbillies to teach our children. Seems like bad thinkin to me boss. Again you make it appear that teachers make their work weeks or school calendars. Extend both and pay them an equivalent ratio of earnings. We're going in circles here, it's time for me to go exercise.
March 10, 2010 at 5:15 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
Yes an i was reaching into you pocket too were i worked plus i burned up quite a few pairs of pants an shirts to wore out quite a few pair of shoes to an got burned a lot too.
March 10, 2010 at 5:18 PM Report abuse
Relax said...
Part time job! "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest". Your brain is shut hillbilly. Looks like there's little reason for further discussion.
March 10, 2010 at 5:19 PM Report abuse
hillbilly said...
Relax, Why is it so many of you commenters here resort to personal attacks on those who disagree with you and do it with plain facts? Born and bred in Maine, have 2 undergrad degrees and a post grad one too. Yeah, I live and work (fulltime) here because i chose to and don't complain about it.
March 10, 2010 at 5:25 PM Report abuse
JR said...
Not one penny more. I am saddened and disgusted that supposedly educated people like teachers actually have the gall to call for more money and more taxes. What all teachers and administrators should be doing is asking for our forgiveness for costing more than $8000 per student per year to teach our children. It's a complete travesty and I for one am rapidly losing respect for the MEA and for it's members who espouse a completely crazy and insulting notion.
March 10, 2010 at 5:25 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
Don't teachers go to school every so often in the summer time ?
March 10, 2010 at 5:30 PM Report abuse
Relax said...
Hillbilly, but you are complaining not for yourself (Directly) but against professionals who are trying to teach your children. That's not gonna get you or anyone else (like your children) very far in life. JR. $8000 bucks a child, wow! Where's that school. That's nearly DOUBLE what our school spends per pupil. You make it sound like it's money going to teachers. Well, I guess if they are getting paid to work. The reality it's money intended for the welfare of your/our children. If you don't care what they get for an education or educators...don't choose to support those pennies. Lay off teachers and scare top quality individuals away. The Union was only making a positive and educated SUGGESTION for your kids. If you want Jethro Bodine teaching your kids how to be a 00 spy then that’s what you deserve and ought to get. Good luck with that.
March 10, 2010 at 6:53 PM Report abuse
Tallone said...
hillbilly i guess you misunderstood my attempt at sarcasm. conservative union busters are all hypocrites, they all want services on the cheap....one would think they advocate the return of slavery.............
March 10, 2010 at 7:01 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
Let me ask you this what do you do with kids that are slow learners? What do you do with kids that know very little English? they can hardly speak it so how do you teach those kids? So that makes the teacher look bad because the kids are not learning.Some of the kids may of never gone to school were they came from or had very little schooling.
March 10, 2010 at 7:14 PM Report abuse
wollydevil said...
You can fire a teacher if the school takes the proper steps. I was just reading in the bangor paper online an the union president was all for firing the teacher the school did all the proper steps not the school did not do it. Read it for your self in the bangor paper online line the person name is Adam11 look under state lowest achievis schools it should be the nest to last on there on comments.
March 10, 2010 at 7:47 PM Report abuse
PJ said...
Hmmmm. The bankers went bankrupt and took lots of ordinary people with them. The government helped them out and so they got back on their feet and decided to cut themselves some pretty big checks. I think we should cut those we have in charge of teaching our kids reading, writing, history, citizenship and values a break. Give them their raises - a small fraction of some of the bonuses handed out - and if we have to share some of our dollars, do so. Or maybe we can tax bonuses in order to fund education.
March 10, 2010 at 11:02 PM Report abuse
Jack%27sDaddy said...
If you divide the 34 million by the 25000 members, that is only a $1360 per year pay cut. The state workers recently suffered as much or more. Why are teachers "special"? Cut some pay/benifits or cut some jobs!!
March 11, 2010 at 10:16 AM Report abuse
SS said...
hillbilly - do you have homework in your job? do you routinely go home from your job only to work another 3-4 hours per night? do you regularly give up at least on day on the weekends to devote to grading papers? no? then shut up. you have no conception of what teachers actually do. That being said, I agree that the Unions have too much power, and I have refused to join, even though I have been 'strongarmed' a couple of times.
March 11, 2010 at 11:26 AM Report abuse
trisailer said...
Be careful what you wish for, time will tell is busting all the unions was a good idea. At this rate in a few more years we can look forward to a repeat of the violence that it took to get all of you the pay and benefits you all enjoy. Teachers should be paid twice as much as they are to babbysit all your spoiled brats.
March 11, 2010 at 5:45 PM Report abuse
trisailer said...
The real power of any union comes from action that it can get it's members to take. The members need to standup and take action. What are they going to do replace all the teachers? Let's see them try. If I were a teacher I would be looking for leadership who can get things done not give away the farm while they line their own pockets. If your going to be in a union act like you have some power.
March 11, 2010 at 5:51 PM Report abuse
Chris said...
How can teachers be in the legislature?
March 11, 2010 at 9:33 PM Report abuse