The only blessing is that the massive interventions in the economy in the final months of the Bush Administration, as well as the interventions since the Obama Administration came into office a bit more than one year ago, have at least prevented the United States from plunging into a second Depression whose severity has not been witnessed for nearly eighty years. The return to stability will not be remotely instantaneous, just as the causes of this crisis did not happen overnight.
Personally, I understand this crisis, and have had my own income negatively affected by it. Similarly, two of my three children, who are now out of college and in the work force, have also been negatively affected by this. Most of you have either been affected by this crisis, or have other family members who themselves have.
That is why, at a time when all school districts on Long Island are in the process of developing their budgets for the 2010/2011 School Year, it is particularly helpful to read an insightful commentary in Friday's Newsday by Marc Bernstein, the Superintendent of the Valley Stream Central High School District.
On a number of past occasions I have quoted Mr. Bernstein, who occasionally writes commentaries on school-related matters. I don't always agree with everything that he writes, but I always find Marc Bernstein to be insightful and sometimes even provocative.
With regard to helping school districts to cope with the "double whammy" (I think that's the sophisticated economic term) of reduced State Aid and reduced personal incomes, Mr. Bernstein tells the State to make various structural changes to reduce the expense of a number of mandates from the State, and he also notes that now is the time for other sacrifices on a local basis.
In such a time of crisis, nobody should expect taxpayers to sacrifice, nor expect students to sacrifice, unless the teachers (and anyone else with salaries that increase merely with the passage of time) begin to sacrifice equally.
Mr. Bernstein wrote:
" First, the legislature should revise the 1972 New York State Court of Appeals "Triborough" decision, which requires school districts that have not yet renegotiated expired contracts to give employees "step movement."
Teachers (and many other public employees) receive automatic salary increases by advancing up a salary "step" based on their accruing another year of service - regardless of whether they are working under contract.
Certainly, districts should not be able to unilaterally change expired contracts for vital items such as health insurance. But automatic salary increases shouldn't be mandated. "At last, a breath of fresh air from an education insider.
We need to consider many options for coping with school district expenses -- with wages and benefits vastly more than any other category of expense -- that have escalated faster than wages and benefits of the property taxpayers who cover most of the cost of funding school districts, and Mr. Bernstein is helping us to start that process.
For those of you who are either Newsday subscribers, or who are Optimum Online customers, you can access Mr. Benstein's full commentary at:
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/opinion-if-you-re-going-to-cut-aid-cut-mandates-1.1754906?print=true
Let Mr. Bernstein's clarion call be the start of a creative and responsive process to prevent an implosion of financial instability that will destroy our school systems, and drive down home values even further.
