BUFFALO, N.Y. — Protests, pickets, and walk-outs — all regular occurrences for what it’s meant to be a Buffalo Public Schools teacher over the last four years.
The repeated action by the Buffalo Teachers Federation served as a demand by the union that the district hear their pleas for a fair contract.
“They’re mad,” said Michelle Hall, a teacher at Stanley Makowski Early Childhood Center. “I, myself, work three jobs — and I have a master’s degree — just to make ends meet. I know several teachers that are working second and third jobs.”
Hall feels she has found her calling in the classroom, but with a 5-year-old at home, a lack of a new contract after the most recent one expired in 2016 is forcing her to make some tough decisions.
“It's like, well, what do I choose? Do I choose money? Or do I choose my family?” Hall said.
Riverside’s Marc Bruno and International Prep’s Patrick Foster — whose names will be on the ballot in next month’s Buffalo Teachers Federation election — have seen the same struggles throughout their combined 44 years in the classroom.
Those challenges forced many of their colleagues to leave for other districts in the region that seem to get new contracts — and raises — every few years.
“We're light years behind pretty much every district in this area with our pay,” said Bruno, who will be running for president. “We're working in some of the most challenging environments that you can imagine in education.”
Last month even the school board hit its breaking point amid years of ongoing negotiations after a neutral third-party fact-finder sided with the district on a contract that would provide teachers with a 21% raise over the next three and a half years and a 10% signing bonus.
The new contract would take the district’s average salary for a teacher from $72,000 to $91,216 — 40% higher than the average U.S. public school teacher salary in the 2020-21 school year, according to the National Education Association.
However, the proposal would eliminate the federation’s retiree health insurance starting January 1, 2026, but the district says this would not affect any current teachers.
“We are not going to sit here and continue to play this game,” said Buffalo Board of Education President Sharon Belton-Cottman at a school board meeting back in March. “This is the best and final offer the board has offered, and we want our teachers to get paid. … I don't think there's anyone in Western New York that does not feel that this is a decent offer.”
For years, the Buffalo Teachers Federation has put the district in the public spotlight, blaming the school system for why a deal has not been reached.
But now some within the union are starting to believe it’s their president that has been the problem.
“You want to talk to Phil, he makes time for you. I will give him that. But when it comes to making moves in negotiations and getting deals sealed? No, he's not the guy,” Hall said.
2 On Your Side sat down for an exclusive interview with Phil Rumore and pressed him on why after four years, there’s still no deal.
2 On Your Side’s Andy Paden: “Teachers have come to me saying that they've seen teachers in their own buildings leave for other districts because this contract just hasn't been reached. Is that not reason enough to just go ahead and take this offer?”
“Nothing is settled until everything is settled,” Rumore said. “[Buffalo Public Schools General Counsel Nate Kuzma] can be up there saying, ‘this is what we got,’ but he doesn't mention what they're trying to take away from the teachers. … It isn't because this contract hasn't been done. They're leaving here because their salaries at other school districts are much higher.”
The district's most recent proposal would give Buffalo Public Schools teachers the second most competitive starting salary in the region.
Documents obtained from BPS show that, in the last 24 years of Phil Rumore’s 42-year tenure, he has successfully negotiated just one contract, with many union members questioning his leadership due to a lack of transparency and his decades removed from the classroom.
2 On Your Side: “Is there any belief on your end that you may not be the right person to negotiate this deal anymore?”
“We’ll see what the teachers think about what is negotiated,” Rumore said. “Actually, we're in better shape now than if we would have settled after a year.”
With 2023’s Buffalo Teachers’ Federation election looming, some also question the negotiating timeline.
2 On Your Side: “You've said that you feel you're at the best point that you could be. And now you're up for reelection in a few weeks. Do you not find the timing of all this to be convenient?”
“Not at all,” Rumore said. “If anything, it's the length of times that's taking this more time it's actually working against [me]. The teachers are angry that they don't have a contract … I'm not going to recommend or agree to anything to present the teachers that I don't think is worthy of them.”
The teachers federation requested an additional negotiation session Tuesday with the district. The union plans to have a copy of a final contract in teachers' hands by Friday with a tentative ratification date set for Monday, pending the board’s approval.