Union Wins Battle Over School Bonuses
by Anne Silverstein
In a victory that means hundreds of thousands of dollars for about 50 CSA members, an arbitrator has ruled that Assistant Principals temporarily assigned to schools are eligible to receive performance incentives if the rest of the school’s staff earned the differential.
The city had refused to pay the CSA members who were placed in schools after being excessed from their permanent assignments. The decision applies to employees who have held their positions for at least five months and were rated satisfactory during the year when the school qualified for a performance incentive. The ruling also applies to “F” status employees.
“We’ve always maintained that these supervisors contributed to the success of a school,” said CSA President Ernest Logan. “We’re obviously pleased that an arbitrator agreed with us.”
In his written decision issued on May 20, the arbitrator, Jeffrey M. Selchick, rejected a number of the city’s contentions including the idea the it was the Department of Education’s “intent to exclude excessed Assistant Principals from the performance incentive award when the language was negotiated in the Agreement.”
CSA filed this case several years ago on behalf of its excessed members, and CSA General Counsel Bruce Bryant and Counsel David Grandwetter assiduously applied themselves to it; the first hearing was held in November 2009, and the follow-up dates took place last fall and winter.
The union urged the arbitrator to take into account Article VII of the contract, which specifically grants excessed Assistant Principals the right to have their service credited “for all seniority, salary, and other purposes.”
Mr. Grandwetter and Mr. Bryant pointed out to the arbitrator that the contract states “the Assistant Principal and other supervisory staff” are eligible for the differential in a school that qualifies.
The lawyers argued that during “the protracted four-year bargaining process” leading up to the 2007 contract between the city and the union, the DOE never conveyed an intent to exclude excessed APs from the performance incentive.
Mr. Selchick, in his decision, noted that nothing in Articles III or VII “excludes in any way” excessed APs from eligibility.
Performance increases, as they are called in CSA’s contract, were first implemented in the 1999 contract and were renegotiated for the 2007-2008 school year. The increases are awarded based on student achievement progress and other criteria.
Principals may receive up to $25,000; Assistant Principals (and other supervisory staff) in a school where the Principal qualifies for a performance increase receive half of the Principal’s differential. CSA also negotiated performance increases for Education Administrators and other school-based titles represented by CSA.
