The deal is at least 75 people or nothing. According to an email from the H.R. department on Friday, only 31 people have signed up so far.
It’s possible that a bunch of people have been delaying making the decision, but the deadline is looming. If I were considering this option, I’d want to know for sure that it was happening before committing, because it has also been clarified that you can’t change your mind if they don’t reach the threshold. It’s like a shady crowdfunding platform.
Am I reading this right?
* If 74 people resign, nobody gets a severance.
* The severance isn’t actually cash, it’s a retirement account contribution.
* You have to wait 5 months after resigning to even get the first payment.
This is a joke, right? Or am I reading this wrong?
The way this should work is cash for resignation, no? “Hey I’m resigning” => “here’s a check for 25 grand”.
I have absolutely zero stake in this and have only loosely followed the situation, but are they essentially bribing people to resign so they don't have to deal with laying people off because they made a $26m mistake in the budget?
This happens in higher education a lot. Basically just throw one-time money via retirement incentives at retirement eligible folks to reduce the base budget. Smart really.
Gotta say that $15k for a retirement buyout is pretty shitty. Ford and GM did way better than that, and it didn't require a minimum of 75 employees taking the deal. Usually it came close to your full year income, and didn't have a trigger.
Very true, 15k is insulting for years of service relative to the amount in question that got them (AAPS) here. Plus the unknown about what happens if they don't meet the 75 threshold... Glad I teach in a different district
Though the severance is a low amount of money, teachers who are eligible now to retire have hefty pensions so the money is icing on the cake. Better than retiring any other time where the severance wouldn't be an option.
The district already knows the number of teachers eligible for retirement so the minimum number of 75 is based on would be anticipated
Add the fact there is a 25 million shortfall so there isn't nearly enough money to provide in incentives like a multi-billion dollar corporation.
.
I guess you can call it a "bribe." IMO that is more pejorative than warranted given that this is a time-honored way that organizations sweeten the deal when they want to encourage staff to depart voluntarily. The idea is that you've got some number of employees who are approaching retirement or have been on the fence about leaving, finding a new opportunity, or whatever. This incentivizes them to take the leap. They do what they were going to do anyway, but they do it on a timeline that helps the company, and in return they get a better payout than they would have otherwise.
I feel like the "don't have to deal with laying off people" also seems a little pejorative. Having people go voluntarily rather than laying off people is a legitimate outcome to prefer. It isn't lazy or ducking accountability or whatever else may be implied here. You allow employees who want to leave a chance to go with a small reward, and in the meantime you minimize the damage you'd be doing to staff for whom a layoff would be a blow.
Nothing is going to change the frustrating reality that they made a big budget mistake. But they've got choices in how they go about filling the budget gap they created, and some choices are better than others.
I find this difficult to swallow… in the city of highest taxes. They’re actually going to layoff the teachers. I’m dumbfounded by the mismanagement at board level.
doesn't matter how high the city taxes are, the AAPS budget is capped by the state
eta: to be clear, i'm not defending the board, just pointing out a nuance. the board is terrible, for the love of all things holy, vote them out in November
So I just don’t go into a ballot box voting to vote… how do we get information on the people that are running against the current board? Is there a site? Is there a link?
Disgusting. A clerical error followed by gross negligence and overspending, nepotism in hiring countless useless administrators, plus another 1 million dollars to get Dr. Swift away quietly. I am utterly disgusted by the AAPS administration's behavior and saddened to hear that so many talented teachers are being forced out. As a parent of two AAPS students, the jury is still out on whether they'll return or go straight to private schools to finish their K-12 education. Ann Arbor had one of the best school districts in the state for decades. Well, no more.
The deal is at least 75 people or nothing. According to an email from the H.R. department on Friday, only 31 people have signed up so far. It’s possible that a bunch of people have been delaying making the decision, but the deadline is looming. If I were considering this option, I’d want to know for sure that it was happening before committing, because it has also been clarified that you can’t change your mind if they don’t reach the threshold. It’s like a shady crowdfunding platform.
they have to lock in a decision before knowing whether the threshold is met? jesus, it's like a real life prisoners dilemma
I think the union put out a survey to gauge interest anonymously. But agreed, they shouldn’t be a threshold for ethical reasons.
Am I reading this right? * If 74 people resign, nobody gets a severance. * The severance isn’t actually cash, it’s a retirement account contribution. * You have to wait 5 months after resigning to even get the first payment. This is a joke, right? Or am I reading this wrong? The way this should work is cash for resignation, no? “Hey I’m resigning” => “here’s a check for 25 grand”.
You’re not wrong. I was shocked when I learned that
I have absolutely zero stake in this and have only loosely followed the situation, but are they essentially bribing people to resign so they don't have to deal with laying people off because they made a $26m mistake in the budget?
Very common in private sector to accelerate headcount reduction.
This happens in higher education a lot. Basically just throw one-time money via retirement incentives at retirement eligible folks to reduce the base budget. Smart really.
Happened to my dad at Ford in 2005, they were throwing retirement/buyout incentives at employees with 20+ years. He took it. Lucky timing.
Gotta say that $15k for a retirement buyout is pretty shitty. Ford and GM did way better than that, and it didn't require a minimum of 75 employees taking the deal. Usually it came close to your full year income, and didn't have a trigger.
Very true, 15k is insulting for years of service relative to the amount in question that got them (AAPS) here. Plus the unknown about what happens if they don't meet the 75 threshold... Glad I teach in a different district
Though the severance is a low amount of money, teachers who are eligible now to retire have hefty pensions so the money is icing on the cake. Better than retiring any other time where the severance wouldn't be an option. The district already knows the number of teachers eligible for retirement so the minimum number of 75 is based on would be anticipated Add the fact there is a 25 million shortfall so there isn't nearly enough money to provide in incentives like a multi-billion dollar corporation. .
I guess you can call it a "bribe." IMO that is more pejorative than warranted given that this is a time-honored way that organizations sweeten the deal when they want to encourage staff to depart voluntarily. The idea is that you've got some number of employees who are approaching retirement or have been on the fence about leaving, finding a new opportunity, or whatever. This incentivizes them to take the leap. They do what they were going to do anyway, but they do it on a timeline that helps the company, and in return they get a better payout than they would have otherwise. I feel like the "don't have to deal with laying off people" also seems a little pejorative. Having people go voluntarily rather than laying off people is a legitimate outcome to prefer. It isn't lazy or ducking accountability or whatever else may be implied here. You allow employees who want to leave a chance to go with a small reward, and in the meantime you minimize the damage you'd be doing to staff for whom a layoff would be a blow. Nothing is going to change the frustrating reality that they made a big budget mistake. But they've got choices in how they go about filling the budget gap they created, and some choices are better than others.
Thank you for your thorough response! That makes a lot of sense and seems a lot better for the community than a mass layoff.
I find this difficult to swallow… in the city of highest taxes. They’re actually going to layoff the teachers. I’m dumbfounded by the mismanagement at board level.
doesn't matter how high the city taxes are, the AAPS budget is capped by the state eta: to be clear, i'm not defending the board, just pointing out a nuance. the board is terrible, for the love of all things holy, vote them out in November
So I just don’t go into a ballot box voting to vote… how do we get information on the people that are running against the current board? Is there a site? Is there a link?
League of Women Voters does candidate interviews and posts them on YouTube.
we don't know who'd running yet. i'm just choosing to believe we'll have better options by November because hope springs eternal
What's truly dumbfounding is how a city of such highly educated adults can't figure out how to operate within a budget.
Rofl
Obviously if you ever have to drive in A2 they must have skipped that class in their high education
Grade inflation. Everyone is an A student.
Mismanagement = Self-dealing and theft.
Disgusting. A clerical error followed by gross negligence and overspending, nepotism in hiring countless useless administrators, plus another 1 million dollars to get Dr. Swift away quietly. I am utterly disgusted by the AAPS administration's behavior and saddened to hear that so many talented teachers are being forced out. As a parent of two AAPS students, the jury is still out on whether they'll return or go straight to private schools to finish their K-12 education. Ann Arbor had one of the best school districts in the state for decades. Well, no more.
We won't miss you