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SCHENECTADY
Workers in Raucci’s CSEA unit on special pay level
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    A group of Schenectady school employees in convicted felon Steven Raucci’s CSEA unit are still benefiting from a deal struck with the school district 15 years ago.
    Eleven employees are still being paid up to 15 percent more than others who do the same work but have just one less year of seniority.
    The wage gap became clear when the school board approved a new contract for the group this week.
    The one-year contract, which ends June 30, also requires all workers to contribute 13 percent of their health insurance premiums. That’s up 1 percent from the previous contract.
    In exchange, every worker got a 4 percent raise — including a group that was raised to a special “super-step” that no other employee is allowed to reach.
    Those in the maintenance unit’s super-step get paid 15 percent more their fellow cleaners. In the operations unit super-step, the laborers/messengers get 9.15 percent more than those who came on just a year later.
    The difference allows two cleaners to make $45,000 now, while those who came on a year after the deal was struck make $39,200.
    The nine laborers/messengers in the special category now make $42,800, while those who missed the deal make $39,200.
    School officials had diffi culty pulling records to explain the deal, which dates back to 1995. They said that the district discovered a group of employees who had essentially the same tasks as much lower-paid employees. ...............>>>>........................>>>>............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01302&AppName=1

It's no wonder that the SCSD has such high taxes. That agreement needs to be changed now as it's unfair to all the others doing the same job for less money.

This deal was struck "in a budget crisis"? Every year is a budget crisis with the school bored that can't say no. They take weeks to cut $500,000 from a budget of $161 MILLION. All the cuts should be from the administration-not Junior ROTC, not music, not reading.

Here is an example of private and public schools..........

The Brookings Institution once investigated the number of bureaucrats working in the center administration offices of the new york city public schools. Six telephone calls finally got someone who knew the answer, but that person was not allowed to disclose it. Another six calls later, they at last pinned down someone who knew the answer and could tell what the difference was.....there were 6,000 bureaucrats working in the central office.

Then they called the Archdiocese of ny, to find out the figure there. (the cities' catholic schools educated 1/5 as many students as did the government run schools)The first telephone call was taken by someone who did not know the answer. But after a moment she said "wait and let me count." Her answer was 26.
http://books.google.com/books?.....ge&q&f=false

Another crying shame is that the same bureaucrats that destroyed the Schenectady district were able with Paul Tonko to close the Schenectady Charter School. This ended any non faith based competition.