Quinn Calls For Middle-School Teacher Bonus; Could Reach $10G; Works With CLC On Housing Aid

Quinn Calls For Middle-School Teacher Bonus; Could Reach $10G; Works With CLC On Housing Aid


City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in her "State of the City" address Feb. 12 proposed expanding bonus pay for Teachers in struggling middle schools to as much as $10,000 and a new affordable housing partnership with the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James LABOR AND COUNCIL, UNITED: City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in her "State of the City" address announced a partnership between the Council and the Central Labor Council to increase the amount of affordable housing. She said the two groups would combine assets in order to make 'competitive bids that will keep tenants in their homes.'

The mayoral hopeful said that while all of municipal government would have to work with a smaller budget than in past years, city agencies could still expand services and make improvements. She spoke about the Council's commitment to improving public education, especially in middle schools.

'Some Places Are Harder'

"I am calling on the [Department of Education] and the education unions to come together to offer substantial salary incentives to Teachers who are willing to work and stay in our most troubled middle schools," Ms. Quinn said. "Look, we have to admit that some schools are harder to teach in than others. And if we are going to convince our best Teachers to go there or stay there, we have to be willing to experiment with different approaches to compensating them. If this new approach works, I will push hard to take it citywide."

After the speech, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein welcomed the suggestion and hoped that the United Federation of Teachers would join the department in support. Currently, under the union's contract, bonuses averaging $3,000 are paid to all Teachers in about 240 high-needs schools that show major improvement.

UFT President Randi Weingarten, who was in San Diego at the time attending a meeting of her national union's executive council, said in a statement, "The Speaker's proposal reflects her understanding that incentives can make a difference in attracting and retaining highly qualified Teachers in some of our most challenging schools. With five middle schools recently added to the state's list of troubled schools, we are pleased that Speaker Quinn is championing schools that are in urgent need of support."

She continued, "This incentive - like the school-based one we recently negotiated - would be available to all Teachers in a middle school who attain or already have the appropriate credentials. That is a great way of building Teacher quality and, as a result, helping kids. But it is difficult to create new incentives when existing programs to help grow capacity, such as the Lead Teacher program, are being considered for the budget axe."

Funds for Housing

Ms. Quinn spoke at length about the soaring costs of housing and the subprime mortgage crisis, and said that the Council's new partnership with the CLC on affordable housing would reduce eviction rates.

"The CLC will be forming a new non-profit organization - collaborating with its local unions - to use a combination of pension funds available through the AFL-CIO's Housing Trust Fund and private equity to expand the supply of housing available to middle-income New Yorkers," she said. "Together, we'll identify housing at risk of being sold or deregulated and, between the union's resources and the city's leverage, we'll make competitive bids that will keep tenants in their homes."

CLC Executive Director Ed Ott said Ms. Quinn reached out to his group to develop the partnership.

Several Motives

"One part of it is we're trying to save existing housing that might fall to market and people would lose their affordability," he said of the program. "The other is we're looking at possibilities of building some housing. The problem with all of this is that the devil's in the details of every project, but we are collaborating with others on this."

Several elected officials spoke highly of the new approach.

"I am so glad that we now have elected officials who are trying new and innovative things," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. "Can it work? Time will tell. But when you put labor together with the city and you explore every avenue for affordable housing then everybody wins."

Civil Service and Labor Committee Chairman Joseph P. Addabbo favored the plan over a bill in his committee that would allow more municipal city workers to live outside the city.

"The CLC has credibility," he said. "Hopefully, with the financial assistance and the people-power there, it would work."