STATEMENT OF THE

BEDFORD CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGARDING THE NEGOTIATING IMPASSE
WITH THE BEDFORD TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
June 29, 2016
The Board of Education and the Bedford Teachers Association (BTA) have concluded that
they have reached an impasse in their negotiations for a new contract. This statement is intended
to explain why there is an impasse, and what the Boards goals are in these negotiations. This
statement is supported by all the members of the Board of Education.
Background
The current contract between the District and BTA expires on June 30, 2016. By New York
State law, the terms of this contract will remain in effect after its expiration date, until a new
contract is agreed to by both sides. Like all the Districts union contracts, the BTA contract is
available online at www.bcsdny.org.
The negotiating teams for each side have been bargaining for a successor contract since February
4, 2016. Ten formal negotiating sessions have been held, not counting additional informal
meetings and conversations. A mediator was present at one of those sessions.
The Districts negotiating team is comprised of the Boards lead negotiator, Richard Kass of the
law firm of Bond, Schoeneck, & King, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Administrative
Services Mark Betz, and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Andrew
Patrick.
OverviewThe Problem We Face
The Board of Education values the fine work of the dedicated educators who teach our children
every day. Although we may disagree over the rate at which their salaries can reasonably be
increased over the next several years, there is no doubt that our teachers are a superb group of
professionals. The work they do is what this school district is all about.
The reason why it is difficult to negotiate a contract with BTA is that the union contract provides
for automatic salary increases that exceed the rate of inflation, and exceed the maximum tax levy
increase under the New York tax cap law. Like almost all teachers union contracts in New York
State, our contract with BTA contains a salary schedule that links salaries to seniority. For
example, the salary schedule provides that a teacher with seven years of service (Step 7) must
be paid about 4.5% more than a teacher with six years of service (Step 6). Teachers who have
between 4 and 17 years of service are entitled to automatic salary increases that average about
4% per year. Under a New York law called the Triborough Law, these increases must be
given regardless of whether a new contract has been negotiated.

This system of automatic salary increases worked satisfactorily when the rate of inflation was
close to or above the automatic increases in the contract. But year after year of automatic
increases in excess of inflation have taken their toll, causing much of the Districts current fiscal
predicament.
When senior teachers retire, and are replaced by junior teachers who are entitled to less pay
under the contract, the District saves money. But these savings have not been sufficient to
counterbalance the automatic increases built into the BTA contract.
Since 2008, the Board has worked hard to reduce the automatic increases built into the BTA
contract. In 2010, we negotiated a contract covering the years 2009-2013 that paused the
automatic increases for one year, and increased teachers health insurance contributions from
10% of the total premium to 15%. In 2013, we negotiated a contract covering the years 20132016 that introduced a new compensation system for teachers hired on or after July 1, 2013.
Under this new compensation system, which is unique in the state, the automatic increases built
into the contract are limited to 2% per year. With each passing year, as teachers under the old
system retire and new teachers are hired under the new system, the burden of automatic pay
increases will become less and less onerous for the District. But it is still too soon for us to enjoy
a significant benefit from that trendespecially since the recent layoffs we have been forced to
implement disproportionately affect teachers who are under the new compensation system. New
York State law requires layoffs to be in reverse order of senioritylast hired, first fired.
The District has contracts with two other unionsthe CSEA, which represents civil service
employees such as secretaries, teacher aides, and custodians, and BASA, which represents all but
the highest-level administrators. We have worked hard to reduce the automatic salary increases
built into those contracts as well. In 2012, we subcontracted bus driving work that had been
done by CSEA employees to a private company, and we negotiated a contract with CSEA that
increased the percentage of health insurance premiums paid by CSEA employees. In 2015, we
negotiated a contract with BASA that reduces the automatic increases from 2.25% per year to
1.5%.
The District is not permitted to negotiate pension costs with its unions. Pension benefits for
employees are mandated by state law, and so are the Districts contributions to the state pension
funds.
Under New York law, the District cannot unilaterally change its union contracts. The unions
must agree to any changes. Therefore, the most we can hope for are gradual, incremental
reforms. Simply by withholding their consent, the unions can continue the old contracts
indefinitely. The unions are not permitted to strike, but they do have the power to maintain the
status quo.

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The Districts Proposals

In our current negotiations with BTA, we have asked to continue the process we started in 2008
of gradually lowering of the automatic increases built into the contract.
Because health insurance costs have been increasing even more than salaries, we have proposed
changes to our current self-insured health insurance plan. We have suggested increasing the copay for doctor visits from $20 to $40, and extending the $400 deductible to in-network care. We
have also asked for the right to switch from our self-insured plan to the insured Blue Cross/Blue
Shield plan that most school districts use. We have also asked teachers to pay an increased
percentage of health insurance premiums.
With regard to salaries, we have asked that teachers limit automatic increases to the rate of
inflation, or to the tax cap imposed under New York law.
We have explained that any savings that the District can achieve in these ways could be used to
reduce the number of layoffs necessitated by our fiscal crisis. We also suggested that some of
the savings could go toward cost-of-living increases for teachers who are already on the top step
of the salary schedule, and who therefore will not receive an automatic salary increase.
We are not saying that teachers should never get salary increases. What we are saying is that we
should minimize the increases that are built into the contractincreases that have nothing to do
with economic conditions, and that take effect automatically, without negotiations. We are
saying that salary increases should be negotiated every few years, based on economic conditions
and the job market. At the moment, we cannot afford any salary increases beyond what the
contract requiresin fact, we cant even afford that. But we are committed to paying our
teachers fairly, in line with economic conditions and the job market.
BTAs Response
BTAs response to our proposals has disappointed us. They have stated that they will refuse to
agree to any contract that ends up costing the District less money than the contract we have now.
They said they would be willing to agree to short-term savings, but only if those savings are
more than outweighed by increased costs in future years. Such a deal would make it even harder
for us to balance our budgets in the future.
BTA has even asked for increases beyond those already built into the current contract. They
want to add additional stipends for various purposes, and improve the benefits available under
the health insurance plan.
BTA has repeatedly stated that they are tired of the District asking them for concessions. They
pointed out that they gave the District important concessions in the last two contracts, especially
the 2013 contract that instituted the new compensation system for teachers hired after July 1,
2013. We explained that although we greatly appreciate those concessions, more work needs to

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be done to make the BTA contract compatible with the new reality of low inflation and low tax
levy increases.
The Road From Here
As this summary makes apparent, the District and BTA are far apart in their positions. It is for
this reason that both sides have agreed that they have reached an impasse. This means that
PERB, the Public Employment Relations Board, will assign a mediator to try to facilitate an
agreement. Mediation will probably take place in the fall.
Although we strongly disagree with BTA over what the terms of our new contract should be, we
hope that as the negotiating process continues in mediation, we will continue to communicate
with each other in a respectful and collegial manner. We appreciate the hard work that our
teachers do every day for our children, and we promise to continue to work with them closely to
provide our children with the highest quality education anywhere.

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