The cash-strapped Detroit Public Schools, which has felt the pain of teacher layoffs, pay cuts and school closings, has some good news for teachers: You're getting a bonus. The school board president thinks that's a bad idea.
The Emergency Financial Manager Roy Roberts disagrees.
The Detroit news reports that Roberts has announced that 8,000 school employees will get a 1 percent bonus for each $5 million of general fund operating surplus for the school year that ended in June 2012 and the one for 2013. The bonus will be calculated by base salary.
The News reports:
Because DPS projects a surplus of $11.9 million for the 2011-12 school year, employees are looking at a 2 percent bonus. For 80 percent of teachers, that would mean a check between $1,600 and $1,800, said Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
All DPS employees received a pay cut of 10 percent last school year that continues in the new budget cycle. Roberts imposed a contract on all union employees on July 1 rather than negotiate, which drew the ire of the unions and led to protests outside his office.
