Good Thursday morning. Here’s a glance at opinion content published Wednesday and today:
Wednesday, June 22
Superintendents’ pay: Editorial.
We comment on recent coverage of school-superintendent compensation, which runs the gamut in New York. We write:
… The articles confirmed one thing that already was clear from anecdotal evidence — that school boards, prodded by taxpayers, are reining in top school pay: more than half the school districts that reported superintendent salaries to Albany have not increased salaries for next year or are paying less. This comports with our own discussions with school officials in the last year; many talked about relinquishing salary increases or making voluntary contributions toward their benefits — much as teachers and other represented workers have been asked to “give back” past gains.
Such leadership by example will need to continue well into the future; the ill effects of the economic downturn continue in most every community, compelling still more thrift and more sacrifice. …
Thursday, June 23
CSEA deal: Editorial
We cheer news from Albany that leaders of the state Civil Service Employees Association and Gov. Andrew Cuomo struck a deal on a new contract that includes salary freezes, furloughs and increased health-insurance contributions. We write:
… Taxpayers know better than to accept one tentative accord as evidence of wholesale change, but the reality is, New York will not make it out of this thicket in the absence of real gains, real sacrifice and honest brokering — on the part of its major public-employee unions and the elected officials called upon to advance the public interest.In this case, it is encouraging to see New York preserve dignity, preserve jobs, and achieve significant money-saving results the old-fashioned way: by having labor and management bargain for them.
Yonkers school budget: Commentary
Bill Roney, a former Yonkers teacher, argues in a Community View that Yonkers Schools must be funded in the city’s new budget.
More opinion
Here’s a look at what our colleagues are saying today:
Sensible savings in CSEA pact: Editorial, Newsday
Bruno’s actions worthy of trial: Editorial, Poughkeepsie Journal
A deal for the unions: Editorial, Daily News
Cuomo needs to get promised job-creation panels up and running: Editorial, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Peace can’t wait three more years: Editorial, Albany Times Union
Andrew’s first session: Editorial, New York Post
