Youngstown school board should reassess pay hikes

Barring a miraculous financial recovery, state government will have to deal with a $4 billion to $8 billion revenue shortfall in the next biennium, which means deep cuts in spending will be necessary. And that isn’t good news for public education, which has emerged relatively unscathed in recent budgets.

But this time around, primary and secondary education and the state universities and colleges will take a hit, possibly a big one.

Financial caution is advised by boards of education and boards of trustees, which is why the Youngstown Board of Education should reassess its decision to approve pay raises for two of the three unions.

Board Vice President Lock P. Beachum, chairman of the finance committee, is right in asking about the costs of the two-year pacts — they feature 1 percent pay raises — with the 295-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the crafts unions that include seven or eight plumbers, electricians and carpenters. Beachum also wondered how the contracts would affect the school district’s ability to shed the state-mandated fiscal emergency. The district’s finances have been controlled by a state fiscal oversight commission since 2006.

District Treasurer William Johnson told the board Tuesday that the exact cost of the two contracts is difficult to determine because some provisions, such as reductions in call-out pay, depend on how often they are used.

But there’s another aspect to the labor pacts that could have a major impact on the district’s finances, namely, the tentative agreement between the Youngstown Education Association, which represents the teachers, and the administration led by Superintendent Wendy Webb. Webb will be retiring at the end of the year and will be succeeded by Dr. Connie Hathorn, who is serving as deputy superintendent.

The details of the YEA contract have not been made public, but if it calls for a pay raise and other benefit sweeteners that are greater than what AFSCME and the crafts unions have agreed to, a me-too clause kicks in. In other words, everyone gets the best deal.

Therein lies the problem.

With state funding in jeopardy, the school district cannot deal with budgetary uncertainties.

Indeed, the chairman of the state fiscal oversight commission has already signaled to the board of education that the five-year budgetary forecast prepared by the treasurer is overly optimistic.

Roger Nehls has told the board it has no choice but to seek a renewal of the 9.5-mill emergency levy approved by the voters in 2009. The tax expires in 2013.

Hard-pressed residents

Board member Beachum and some of his colleagues have said that it is unfair to ask financially hard-pressed residents to continue paying the tax for another several years.

Here’s a reality check for the board: If the contracts with the YEA, AFSCME and the crafts unions contain raises and other boosts, the tax renewal will go down in flames.

Why? Because residents of the district have not only had to accept pay freezes or make major concessions, but many have lost their jobs.

The board of education should take a step back and consider the ramifications of agreeing to contracts that contain pay raises, even small ones.