MORE FACTS for the September 9 VOTE

MRSD Teachers Contract Facts

• Early Retirement: The fleecing of the taxpayers: pork of all pork, the district's golden parachute. If you are a teacher, work 20 years and are 55 or older, you can retire from the MRSD and receive $25,000 a year for five to seven years - never see a student, pick up a pencil or go to a classroom. A benefit that has caused the district's employment costs to skyrocket - remember, there is no investment vehicle that earns money to pay for this pork benefit. It must come from the "cookie jar" on the counter, the social security check that you depend on, or the checkbook that never seems to go far enough. A benefit that is shameful at best - to have seniors on fixed incomes pay for this out of their meager existence. Can you retire after working 185 days a year for 20 years? Why should the taxpayers give more and more outrageous benefits to a minority of teachers while they (the taxpayers) struggle to make ends meet? Early retirement and large longevity raises are excessive benefits by anyone's standards. They must be stopped now, with a NO vote on September 9.

• Health Care: No cap on health care is unacceptable. Costs are skyrocketing; teachers union and administrators don't seem to care whether you have health insurance or not. In fact, principals and other administrators still receive 100% health care coverage. Question: What do YOU pay for health care? Do you even have health care? No cap - no contract!

• Evergreen Clause: Definition - "ever" means that the raises continue even after the contract ends, "green" just means "money". Thus, "Evergreen" means money forever; it will continue after contract's fourth year (NH State law).

• The Real Emergency is whether you will be able to heat your home comfortably, afford gas for your car(s), feed your family, and pay your property taxes!

The Bottom Line

• Early retirement costs will continue through 2016. Twenty five (25!) teachers will receive $4,400,000 and never teach another student at MRSD.

• Early retirement will cost the taxpayers $800,000 this year alone. When does your early retirement begin? Why encourage our most experienced teachers to retire early then complain about the high turnover rate?!

• As of now, the district is obligated for $3.6 million in previous early retirement costs; however, the town of Sullivan filed a lawsuit against the school district to stop existing early retirement payments alleging, and we concur, that the taxpayers were never warned of the costs of early retirement from the prior contract making the benefit illegal. (Do you remember voting on early retirement?) Language in the "new" contract will nullify the Sullivan Town lawsuit. The cost to the taxpayers if the suit is nullified is over $3.6 million dollars; together with the early retirement costs in the "new" contract ($800,000) totals a whopping $4,400,000! This is money wasted that will never go towards educating kids! Voting "NO" on this contract will allow the court case to be heard.

• The teachers union that wants all of these outrageous benefits is the same union that last year rejected a proposed change of health insurance carriers which would have saved the district $850,000 a year. The clause giving the teachers union veto power over changing health carriers is again in the new contract.

• The "evergreen clause" is now guaranteed by NH State law. Thus, the teachers will continue to receive pay raises even after the contract expires. At the Deliberative Session held August 9 of this year, the lawyer for MRSD said that the question of whether the "new" contract would fall under the recently passed NH State law was, "open." Regardless of what the school board tax and spenders say, rest assured the union will claim that their pay raises should continue, four years from now, when this new contract expires. And, four years is too long a contract!

• The new contract has no health insurance cap. If there was an exorbitant increase in the cost of health insurance to the school district the taxpayers would have to pick up almost 98% of the cost increase, the teachers just 2.5%. Where's the fairness? Does it work that way in YOUR health care plan?

• Virtually no one in the private sector receives these lush benefits. Do YOU get paid to stay home or choose your own health insurance provider where you work?

• We're not against a raise for the teachers... however, it must also be fair for those paying the bill! Taxpaying families can no longer afford to WASTE MONEY! $4,400,000 for 25 teachers who will never teach our kids again is a WASTE OF OUR HARD EARNED MONEY!!

Did You Know?

• Average teacher pay in MRSD is $47,402 before benefits. (Not bad!) This is the 2nd highest pay in the Monadnock region, about fifty bucks less than Keene. This, before the new raises, perks, pork, and golden parachutes. (Source: D.O.Ed)

• MRHS cost per student: $14,000. Cost per student for Washington, D.C.: $14,000. This should alarm you!

• Last year, the MRSD overtaxed you and had a surplus of $2.1 million. This year, they had a surplus of $800,000. The tax and spenders on the school board raced to spend, before the June 30 deadline, $600,000 on non-budgetary items. For the last two years they have rushed to spend the surplus and then they added these amounts to the default budget, increasing each year's budget by hundreds of thousands (millions?!) without your consent!

• Teachers get NH State retirement and Social Security as well as the early retirement. How much is enough?

• Average age of NH resident is 38.9 - NH has the lowest birthrate in the nation (Union Leader, 8/22/08)

• Enrollment for MRSD 2003/04 was 2,488 students. Enrollment as of 10/1/07 in MRSD was 2,052 students; down 436 students in 48 months (4 years) Enrollment continues a steep decline.

• The MRSD Budget has doubled in ten years.

• The MC2 Program now costs MRSD taxpayers $500,000 a year for a handful of students; there is no longer any Federal grant money to assist us in this cost. Where did the $10.8 million grant money go? Did student test scores benefit? Waste of tax $$

Hardcore Economic Realities

• Inflation is at a 27-year high.

• Food prices are soaring. - projected 25% increase.

• Jobless rate increasing

• Recession

• Large additional increases in County, State and Local taxes are inevitable.

• Do YOU have $$ to WASTE?

• The Wall Street Journal says that home heating oil and gas prices are projected to rise towards $6 gallon.