The Archdiocese of New York isn't exactly known for transparency in the way it runs Catholic schools on Staten Island and elsewhere. Going into 2015, the outlook is typically murky.

It's uncertain at this point whether the archdiocese is prepared to close up to 20 schools in its system over the next two years based on the outcome of contract negotiations with lay teachers, but the archdiocese is putting that possibility out there.

Say what?

Yes, this could be a sorry prospect less than two years after the Catholic schools on Staten Island were officially declared to be operating on a sound financial footing.

 In a painful round of economic cutbacks by the archdiocese two years ago, six schools here were closed and another was consolidated. It was part of a decision to eliminate 60 Catholic schools in the region.

 "We're there. Our schools, our parents, don't have to be walking on eggshells, wondering if they will be next to close," Dr. Timothy McNiff, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, vowed on April 23, 2013, at a meeting with the Advance editorial board.
Now things seem to have changed.

To say the least.

 That's what the Federation of Catholic Teachers (FCT) is saying. The union is currently negotiating with the Archdiocese of New York on behalf of the lay faculty members in over 150 parochial schools.

It would be a shame if the dedication of Catholic school teachers were to be turned into a bargaining chip by the archdiocese.
 The teachers have been without a contract since September.

 According to the union, the average annual teacher salary is $56,000 after a teacher has worked in the Catholic school system for 12 years. It says that wages range from $45,000 a year for beginning teachers to a high of $63,000 for the most experienced veterans.

What pay hikes are being offered by the archdiocese? Virtually none, according to the teachers.

 In a Jan. 2 letter obtained by the Advance, the FCT informed its members that the Associated of Catholic Schools (ACS), the bargaining arm of the archdiocese, has presented the union with two choices: 

 "Option A would be a two-year contract with a 1-percent wage increase in year one and a 1-percent wage increase in year two. According to the ACS, this wage increase would be overwhelming to the system and would result in school closings of up to 10 per year," according to FCT president Julia Pignataro. 

Option B offers no increase or 0-percent wage increase for a two-year period.

Mrs. Pignataro said, "If Option B is selected, a guarantee will be put in writing that there will be no school closings for two years."

 Might this just be a hardball negotiating ploy?

 If so, it seems cold-hearted.

Mrs. Pignataro, a former kindergarten teacher at St. Joseph's School in Rosebank, one of the schools closed two years ago by the archdiocese, says lay teachers as the "backbone" of the Catholic school system of education.

 "They are hardworking and loyal, but they have families and expenses to meet too," she said.

She maintains that the level of pay for faculty members is often blamed unfairly for Catholic school closings, as well as for the periodic rise in the cost of tuitions.

  On Staten Island , the FCT, which is based in New Springville, represents teachers at St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School in Huguenot and St. Peter's Boys High School in New Brighton, as well as high school teachers at Notre Dame Academy on Grymes Hill and at St. John Villa Academy in Arrochar.

The union also represents 18 Catholic elementary schools on Staten Island as well as teachers in schools operated by the archdiocese in Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester and six upstate counties.

 In the face of the unresolved labor talks, the FCT plans a series of meetings with its members, including a session on Jan. 21 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Richmond.

Meanwhile, the archdiocese, which claims to have been negotiating "in good faith" since last summer, hints that  the union's statements in its letter to members may not be "factually correct."

Yet it refuses to elaborate on its own position — despite the apparent potential for school closings it said wouldn't happen — while the contract talks are going on.

So much for transparency.