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Laboy could get pay raise and contract extension; Teachers reject contract offer
"The timing couldn't have been worse," teachers union President Frank McLaughlin said last night of the committee's decision to vote on Laboy's evaluation on the eve of the contract vote. "Yesterday (Tuesday night) didn't help. Yesterday didn't help. The teachers in Lawrence have spoken loud and clear. They read the paper and they were furious. I couldn't believe the timing of this thing (Laboy's evaluation). The timing was outrageous," McLaughlin said. McLaughlin said he expected a close vote on the teacher contract, but about two-thirds of the more than 600 members who showed up at the Elks Lodge opposed the contract. The union has about 800 members. While the timing of Laboy's public evaluation was a "significant" cont ributor to the landslide teachers vote, McLaughlin said it wasn't the only issue. The proposed three-year contract would have provided pay increases of 2 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent, respectively. It also would have provided special compensation for a master's degree. "We worked very hard to get this contract," McLaughlin said. "There was some good language in there, but the members chose not to accept a significant offer for a variety of reasons. We've never had a turnout this big. I have never in 28 years as a teacher seen such a large turnout at a union meeting. There was a traffic jam on Andover Street at the Elks (Lodge). People couldn't get in and out at one point, between 4 and 5 o'clock," he said. Mayor Michael Sullivan could not be reached for comment and did not return telephone calls yesterday and last night. Teachers in Lawrence have been without a contract since Aug. 31. Meanwhile, three outgoing School Committee members will ha v e a chance to boost Laboy's salary and extend his contract when they meet for the final time next week. That would be the last major vote for School Committee members Greg Morris, Omaira Mejia and Patricia Sanchez-Reyes. Morris and Mejia were defeated in last month's city elections. Sanchez-Reyes didn't seek another two-year term. Laboy, who has been superintendent for more than seven years, is under contract through mid-2009. He's currently making about $189,000 a year. But after receiving an excellent evaluation from the School Committee at Tuesday night's meeting, members met for more than an hour with Laboy in executive session to discuss contract matters that could sweeten his current financial package with the city and keep him in charge of Lawrence public schools into the next decade. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. next Thursday. McLaughlin said he and other union members were troubled with the School Committee's overall evaluation of Laboy, particularly the category of general performance, which includes the superintendent's relationship with the School Committee, leadership, management and personal characteristics. In 96 percent of the answers given by the School Committee in this area, Laboy "meets or exceeds expectations." "Ninety-eight percent of teachers can't be wrong," McLaughlin said, repeating a comment he made in March after 98 percent of union members ga ve Laboy a vote of no confidence in a secret ballot. "They're not listening to the teachers. The success of this school system is due to the teachers and nobody else. We all work hard, from kindergarten to calculus. The superintendent is getting eights (percent) and fives (percent) while the teachers are only getting 2 and 3 percent. Don't you see something wrong here?" McLaughlin said. School Committee member James Vittorioso, the lone member to oppose the evaluation, won't discuss the details of Tuesday night's executive session. But Vittorioso said he agrees with McLaughlin that the timing of the School Committee's evaluation was bad. "It would not have been an issue had it been done five months ago," Vittorioso said. "At the meeting, the mayor admitted that it was held up in his office and that's the reason why this evaluation is five months late. He's a man for admitting to a mistake," he said. Vittorioso was surprised that the teache r s had rejected the contract, calling it "a good contract." Laboy was initially hired in early 2000 at a salary of $130,000. "He knows what he's doing, but when it comes to personnel matters, he has his favorites," said Vittorioso. "He hires based on friendship, not ability. And people are afraid of him. I've gotten at least 25 calls from teachers who are afraid of him," he said.
Annual salaries of area superintendents Haverhill, Raleigh Buchanan: $130,000 Lawrence, Wilfredo Laboy: $189,000 Methuen, Jeanne Whitten: $148,000 Andover, Claudia Bach: $152,000 North Andover, James Marini: $180,000 Note: Figures do not include perks such as travel and professional development reimbursements. |
