By Chris Cassidy
STAFF WRITER
—
North Shore teachers can leave the classroom for years at a time to work private-sector jobs in their own unions and still collect public pensions as though they'd never stopped teaching.
The Salem News reported last week that Annemarie DuBois, a former high school English teacher in Peabody, has taken a 24-year leave of absence to work for the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, while still enhancing her public-sector pension.
But Peabody is not the only district with such a generous policy.
Under a common provision in many North Shore teacher union contracts, school departments are required to approve a teacher's request for a leave of absence to work for their unions. The time spent at the private-sector union job still counts as creditable service years in the public school system, which determine pay raises, longevity bonuses and pensions.
DuBois hasn't taught in a Peabody classroom since 1986 but can still retain her job in the school system and receive credit for years of experience as if she were an actual teacher.
Those years boost the salary that her pension is based on. Depending on level of education, a Peabody teacher with DuBois' years of experience would earn between $60,956 for a bachelor's degree and $78,347 for a doctorate and would further be eligible for a $3,500 longevity bonus.
"She's obviously gaining monetarily from it," said Peabody School Committee member Jarrod Hochman, a vocal critic of DuBois' deal. "That's clearly her motive."
That's not including any additional compensation or retirement benefit DuBois may also be receiving directly from the union.
Officials at the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts won't talk. No one at the union has returned any of the multiple phone messages left over the course of a week seeking answers to questions about DuBois, and whether the union offers any pensions to its employees.
DuBois herself, the union's director of organization, hasn't returned multiple calls to her office and her Peabody home.
Language in many North Shore teacher union contracts allow other educators to pursue similar leaves of absence.
Danvers' contract allows two teachers to be granted a leave of up to two years without pay for the purpose of "engaging in Association (state or national) activities." Upon return, a tenured teacher would advance on the salary scale as if he or she had never left.
The Salem School Department is required to grant teachers who are union officers or staff members leaves of absence without pay to perform "legitimate duties for the union." The contract further states that the teachers "shall, upon their return, receive service credit toward longevity, seniority status, placement on the salary schedule and salary increments due them."
However, cases like Dubois' are rare, state retirement officials said.
"I've been here for a while, and I'm only aware of possibly two, maybe three cases," said Joan Schloss, executive director of the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System.
DuBois is on leave from the Peabody schools without pay. But she pays a percentage of what would have been her salary into the teachers retirement system.
"Anybody that pays into the pension system anticipates that at the end of their work career, they'll be receiving a pension," said Joyce Harrington, president of the Salem teachers union.
But Hochman, the Peabody School Committee member, said DuBois is continuing to reap the benefits of a teaching position without actually educating students.
"To say she put her money in, that's not what public pensions are about," Hochman said. "It's the time, the investment back in the community and helping children learn. That's a component of what someone contributes toward their public pension."
"Anybody would want to put away 7 percent or 11 percent of their salary on an annual basis and get 80 percent of their three highest years salary, plus health benefits, upon their retirement for the rest of their lives," he said.
Peabody Superintendent C. Milton Burnett said DuBois' pension would have little impact on the school system. In fact, replacing her, he said, allowed the school system to bring in a teacher with less seniority at a lower salary.
"It really doesn't have any negative impact on us," Burnett said. "Costwise, it benefits us."
Statements like that, however, bother Hochman.
"No one wants to look at the big picture," he said. "We're losing money in the big picture. The state's not able to afford to provide us with as much money to fund our school system because they're paying people like Annemarie DuBois a pension that they don't deserve."
Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salemnews.com.
