Teachers demand a raise

For over two years, the management of the Lexington School for the Deaf has failed to hear the requests of the 145 teachers and instructional assistants for a raise. Working at the same pay scale since 2001, the teachers have tried unsuccessfully for the past two years to negotiate a new contract.
“Last year, we set aside contract negotiations,” said Steve Kipp, a special education teacher from Bayside.
Now they refuse to allow their conditions to go unheard.
During their lunch hours on Thursday last week, the teachers, uniformed in black T-shirts provided by their union - the Teacher’s Association - picketed outside the Jackson Heights school on 75th Street. Inside the building, the finance committee of the Board of Directors met to review their demands. Some beat on drums, and others persuaded passing cars to beep in support.
“[School administrators] have told us that they don’t have the money to give us more than a one percent raise,” Kipp said. “We’ve allowed it go on, and we can’t allow it to go on anymore.”
Faculties at other state-funded schools have received significant raises over the past four years, the Teacher’s Association President Marsha Wagner wrote in a letter to school administrators.
At the Lexington School, starting teachers - with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree - bring home $39,874, $7,000 less than the average starting salary for New York City public school teachers.
For Wagner, an instructional assistant who works with multi-grade English and history classes, the diversity within the 350-member student enrollment and dedication of the teachers drew her into the faculty, but the pay rate is making it hard to stay in the position. A Howard Beach native, Wagner has a 17-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old son, who once attended the Lexington School.
“To maintain and hire these kinds of teachers is difficult when you are offering that kind of money,” Wagner said.
Although she has not heard any response from the administration, Wagner is hopeful that the teachers and school administrators can reach an agreement for the 2006-2007 school year.