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Teachers win raise
(by Mike Klimko - July 30, 2008)
Teachers win raise but lose on insurance
By SUE HOFFMAN
Solon teachers' salaries will continue to rise, but their health-insurance premiums will more than double over the three-year period of a new contract adopted Monday by the Solon Board of Education. The contract runs from Sept. 1, 2008, through Aug. 31, 2011.
While health insurance was once provided at no cost for teachers, premium contributions were set at 5 percent three years ago and will rise to 10 percent within the next three years, School Superintendent Joseph V. Regano said.
New teachers, including those hired this summer, will have a different health plan that requires more co-payments at the time of service and excludes spouses from primary coverage if they can be insured at their places of employment. By the end of the three-year contract, approximately one-fourth of the district's some 400 teachers are expected to be on the new plan, Mr. Regano said.
"The main focus in negotiations was on benefits." He said, with the changes instituted by the new contract, the district is "approaching what the private sector does. The savings are dramatic."
Mr. Regano said annual savings on health insurance, projected at $800,000 in three years, will help stretch the time between operating levies. The last levy was in May 2005, and levies generally are expected to last three years, he said. However, in the Solon district, revenues are still higher that expenses.
Helping to postpone the need for a levy, the district cut about a half-dozen nonteaching positions last year and reduced some secretarial positions from 12 months to 10 months, Mr. Regano said. "We're combining as many jobs as possible. Technology is allowing us to do that."
While their health-care contributions are increasing, the district will continue to offer a salary that is "able to attract top-notch teachers," Mr. Regano said. Raises are 2.75 percent in the 2008-2009 school year, 3.15 percent in 2009-2010 and 3.6 percent in 2010-2011.
In the August 2008 Ohio Schools magazine of the Ohio Education Association, the Solon district was listed as the third highest in the state for starting salaries for teachers with bachelor's degrees. Ranked behind Beachwood and Orange school districts, Solon offers $40,797 as a starting salary.
"Our starting salary is very competitive," Mr. Regano said. Solon is competing with Hudson, Orange, Chagrin Falls, Beachwood and other area school districts for quality teachers, he said. "You have to be in the ballpark.
"The quality of the district helps retain them," he said.
In Ohio Schools magazine's list of top maximum salaries for teachers with master's degrees, Solon drops to 20th, with a salary of $74,686.
Mr. Regano said the reasons that some of the highest teachers' salaries are in Northeast Ohio include the higher cost of living. In addition, he said, "we have the highest concentration of high-performing districts. That's good for the region."
He also attributed Solon's ability to maintain housing prices to the quality of the school district. "Home values have held here as well as anywhere in the state."
Mr. Regano commended teachers for an excellent performance the last three years. In two of the last three years, Solon students had the highest performance in the state, and, in the other year, they had the second highest, he noted.
Teachers recently ratified the contract. Jeffrey Aker, president of the Solon Education Association, expressed gratitude "for the financial support we receive from the residents of Solon and the mutual cooperation and respect we share with our board of education and superintendent during the negotiations process.
"Health-care costs continue to escalate, and the teaching staff has addressed the need for increased contributions towards this very valuable benefit. Our salary increases are competitive with high-achieving districts, and we pledge to continue to work as hard as we can to earn the trust of the Solon community," Mr. Aker said.
Mr. Regano said the contract is fair for teachers and the community. He said the district is now negotiating with the Ohio Association of Public School Employees on a contract for non-teaching staff members.
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