Mission Statement

UnitedForTheKids exists to support students and their parents/guardians in their quest for the best education possible while maintaining fiscal accountability to the current and future taxpayers. We welcome residents from all districts to join UnitedForTheKids.

Feedback is encouraged! Please use the "About Us" tab to provide feedback. You can also join our facebook group.

UFTK is a volunteer organization. Donations will be used for educational material and programs, operating expenses, office supplies, supporting like-minded Board of Education candidates, and scholarships.

UFTK advocates for school transparency, accountability and sustainability.

2012-13 Goals and Objectives

UnitedForTheKids will:

• increase district transparency for students, parents/guardians, taxpayers and district employees. Community members have the legal right to information on how their schools is being run (see Open Meetings Law)
• increase district fiscal and educational accountability
• increase access to summary assessment information and analysis
• promote honesty and professionalism among school officials and with the community

Why We Need UnitedForTheKids

The financial resources of many Public Schools in New York State seem to have shifted away from educating our kids. New York State ranks 39th in graduation rate and 34th in test results despite spending the most money per pupil. Many schools provide employee contracts that are superior to the compensation received by the private sector employees. Many School District employees are represented by powerful unions that give them too much control over how our schools are run and how/what legislation is enacted. This imbalance of power and diversion of financial resources is not good for the students and creates tension with the taxpayers. Resentment towards school employees by frustrated taxpayers is unhealthy for our community.

• The 2010-11 New York State test results for grades 3-5 from https://reportcards.nysed.gov/counties.php?year=2011 have been compiled in this report. This report ranks the Clinton County schools' report card data for 2010-11. The Special Education population is ranked separately from the General Education population. The graphs begin on page #3 of this report.
• Providing Plan A health insurance to school employees is threatening the solvency of our schools. UFTK members attended the meeting of the Board of Directors of the CLINTON-ESSEX-WARREN-WASHINGTON SCHOOLS HEALTH INSURANCE CONSORTIUM. The meeting was held on MARCH 6, 2013. Switching to Plan B would save millions. According to Locey & Cahill, LLC:
  "If a District is seeking to lower its expenses on paid claims, it can achieve this goal by negotiating to the amended plan offering (Plan B) which includes a significant premium reduction. This option includes a three-tier prescription drug benefit plan which is designed to change the purchasing habits of the consumer by having them seek lower cost alternatives. This has proven to be effective as the data shows a distinct difference in the purchasing habits of members in this type of plan versus the older style two tier pharmacy benefit plans or plans that include the pharmacy benefit within the "major medical" coverage."
  An analysis of the documents will be performed but until then, we are making the memo and supporting material that circulated during the meeting available:
  • memorandum which was the basis for discussion - 9 pages
  • supporting material (actual and projected data - tables, charts, and graphs) - 6 pages
  • supporting material (claims charts and graphs) - 12 pages
  • supporting material (performance tables and graphs) - 5 pages
  Understanding the difference between Plan A and Plan B is helpful. The following Plan A / Plan B comparison was foiled from BOCES.
• Staffing costs are growing at an unsustainable pace. Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) includes fiscal, census, staffing, and other information. The following links to specific school districts are provided for your convenience:
  • Ausable Valley Central School District
  • Beekmantown Central School District
  • Chazy Union Free School District
  • Northeastern Clinton Central School District
  • Northern Adirondack Central School District
  • Peru Central School District
  • Plattsburgh City School District
  • Saranac Central School District
• Enrollment in Clinton County Public schools is decreasing yet schools are reluctant or slow to respond with staffing and scheduling adjustments to more effectively and efficiently use resources:

  District	2004-05	2010-11	Difference	Percent Change
  AVCS (decrease)	1367	1202	-165	-12%
  BCS (decrease)	2165	1936	-229	-10.5%
  Chazy (decrease)	597	496	-101	-17%
  NCCS (decrease)	1652	1347	-305	-18.4%
  NAC (decrease)	1105	926	-179	-16%
  Peru (decrease)	2204	2049	-155	-7.5%
  PCS (decrease)	1968	1814	-154	-7.8%
  Saranac (decrease)	1867	1568	-299	-16%

  
  Source: https://reportcards.nysed.gov/view.php?schdist=district&county=9&year=2007
• The following links provide salary information for local area schools. Data updated on March 5, 2013 to include 2008 - 2012 data on total pay. An interactive searchable/sortable table was also added that includes total pay for all employees of Clinton County Public Schools:

  YTD Pay for Public Schools in Clinton County

  Ausable Valley Central School District (Interactive or Excel)
  Beekmantown Central School District (Interactive or Excel)
  Chazy Union Free School District (Interactive or Excel)
  Northeastern Clinton Central School District (Interactive or Excel)
  Northern Adirondack Central School District (Interactive or Excel)
  Peru Central Schools (Interactive or Excel)
  Plattsburgh City School District (Interactive or Excel)
  Saranac Central School District (Interactive or Excel)

  School employees receive a guaranteed pension funded by the taxpayers. Most private sector employees have a defined contribution plan such as an IRA or 401K. There is a big difference between a guaranteed pension provided to school employees and a defined contribution plan provided to private sector employees. School employees' pensions are funded in large part by taxpayers. School employees receive a guaranteed payout at retirement. Economic hard times are absorbed by the community, meaning that if the pension fund falls below a certain level, the taxpayers ante up. In a private sector defined contribution plan , the payout at retirement will be dependent upon the amount of money contributed by the employee and employer, and the performance of the investment (gains and losses) over time. There is no entity to make their plan whole when economic hard times hit.

  Hypothetical Scenario: Estimate of the pension collected by a school employee

  Target Retirement Age	55
  Years worked at retirement	30
  Final average salary	$80,000
  Gender (to calculate annuity)	Female
  Monthly payout at time of retirement:	$4,000
  Annual payout at time of retirement:	$48,000

  The amount of cash someone at the same retirement age would need to purchase a guaranteed lifetime annuity yielding the same income as the pension

  $1,046,147

  The pension calculator at the Empire Center For New York State Policy's website can be used to run various what-if scenarios. "Public Pension Costs in New York are mushrooming - just when taxpayers can least afford it. Over the next five years, tax-funded annual contributions to the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) will more than quadruple" - see the report New York's Exploding Pension Costs available at the website for Empire Center for New York State Policy.

What can you do?

First, arm yourself with knowledge. You can do any of the following to bring about positive change:

• Ask the Board of Education for proactive disclosure of all collective bargaining agreements/contracts before they are signed. The collective bargaining agreements/contracts should be voted on like the school budget.
• Read the information on this website. Follow the links to the sources - learn as much as you can.
• Read the newspaper and seek out articles related to the economy.
• Voice your opinion: attend School Board meetings, blog, visit Andrew Cuomo's website, etc...
• Get involved with the school.
• You have the right to know and New York State's Freedom Of Information Law will help you. You can contact the District Office and request specific information. There's a formal process but it's a simple matter of filling out a form. The form is online at the Beekmantown Central School District web site.
• Ask that the step increases be removed from the Teachers' Salary Schedule. An increase in pay from one year to the next is a raise regardless of the number of pieces in which it is divided. There's no need to complicate teacher pay increases by creating a convoluted table that most people can't understand.
• Send a letter to New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and ask them to please stop using statements like "Do it for the kids", "Think about the future of our kids" or "The kids will suffer if ...".
• Support the repeal of The Triborough Amendment. Repealing the Triborough Amendment would encourage public employers and employees to work together to achieve labor contracts that are both fair and affordable.
• If you are a school employee: Please ask someone you know who is employed in the private sector how much they pay for insurance coverage, how much their deductible is, their maximum and out of pocket costs for medical procedures, how much they contribute to their retirement plan, what happens to their retirement when the economy tanks, what their raise was last year. Try to understand the difficulties and uncertainty that's facing everyone who is employed or seeking employment in the private sector.
• If you are a non-school employee: Ask a friend employed by the District what their position is on one or more issues presented on this web site are. Try to find common ground.