One more disclaimer before I get to the point of this post: I neither have an interest in writing about the merits of the positions taken by the parties to the negotiation, nor about whether or not the teachers are asking for too much (or too little). These issues have been debated in the community for many months now, and I have nothing new to add. However, the fact that the teacher’s contract negotiations have been hotly debated in the community for many months — now that’s interesting. Does anyone debate your salary? Mine? The guy who delivers your mail? The clerk who checked you out at Walmart? The CEO of Exxon-Mobil? No, the only salaries that I can think of that get publicly (and hotly) debated are those of our public school teachers. Why is that?

Well, there is a simple answer — which no doubt has already occurred to you — but like most simple answers, it only appears to address the question, while missing the key point entirely. It’s because we get to vote on the school budget, the vast majority of which goes to the salaries of the people who work in the schools, most of whom are teachers. And, as we know, once the budget is passed, it becomes a tax bill that we have to pay. So, the argument goes, since we pay the teachers’ salaries, we have a right to have a say in how much they make. Sounds simple, right?

No, not really, since there’s an important question that no one is addressing: whose salaries don’t we pay? Whether it’s through taxes (e.g., the guys in the highway department or the clerk in the planning office), or via more direct transactions at Walmart, Amazon.com, or with a local handyman, we all pay each other’s salaries, through the money we spend or the taxes we pay. Where do you think the Schiavonis get the money to pay the workers at the IGA? They get it from you when you shop there, of course. If, next month they have to pay their workers higher wages, then they may have to charge you more for the meat, vegetables and dairy you buy. They have no other secret source of money with which to pay their workers. Neither does any other business. But, when was the last time there was a public debate about the produce manager’s salary? Or the plumber’s? (And, I think he definitely makes too much.) Does anyone write a letter to the editor criticizing the employees of the Variety Store because of a raise they asked for? And what about the CEO of Bridgehampton National Bank? I’ll bet the interest rate on my home equity loan would be lower if he made less.

What about the other (non-school) branches of government? After all, we pay the salaries of everyone in government with our tax dollars. The difference is that we don’t get to vote, even indirectly, on the salaries of the majority of government workers. However, we do get to vote on the school budget, and so we feel we have a right to decide how much teachers should earn. I’m sorry, but I think it is both logically and ethically indefensible to pick one group of employees out of all others and publicly criticize them for wanting the same thing that we all want: to make as much money as we can doing the jobs we’ve chosen to do.

At this point I have to say LOUDLY, that this has nothing to do with whether or not Sag Harbor’s teachers are greedy, selfish, or unreasonable. Maybe they are. Maybe they’re not. In this discussion, that’s beside the point. Perhaps you were greedy, selfish and unreasonable the last time you negotiated with your boss. Shall we discuss that here? No, I didn’t think so.

Basically, what I’m saying folks, is this: get a grip. Teachers, just like the rest of us — including me and you — have the right to ask for what they think they need to live the lives they want to live, without being publicly pilloried for doing so. This is America, after all, where we all have the right to chase success, however we define it, in whatever way we choose.

So, I thought a little research might be in order to find out if there is any poverty in the Hamptons. Here’s what I found out:

According to NationMaster.com, data from the 2000 Census (the latest data available) shows that in the Town of Southampton, “The median income for a household in the town is $53,887, and the median income for a family is $65,144. Males have a median income of $47,167 versus $32,054 for females. The per capita income for the Town is $31,320. 8.3% of the population and 5.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.2% of those under the age of 18 and 6.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.“

In the Town of East Hampton in the year 2000 (again, according to NationMaster.com) the situation was similar. “The median income for a household in the town is $52,201 and the median income for a family is $60,743. Males have a median income of $42,041 versus $31,732 for females. The per capita income for the Town is $31,300. 9% of the population and 6.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 11.2% of those under the age of 18 and 6.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.“  (This data was corrected by me to reflect actual U.S. Census data for the Town of East Hampton. The NationMaster article reported data for the East Hampton CDP  — Census Designated Place — which is different than the Town. Don’t ask me how it’s different; I only have so much patience for research.)

The government uses a table to determine the poverty level for households of differing compositions. Here are two examples for the year 2000: A household of four people, two of them under 18 years of age, would be classified as poor if their annual income was below $17,463; a household of two people where the “householder” is over sixty-five would be classified as poor if their annual income was below $10,419. (Those figures were increased to $21,550 and $12,027 respectively for the year 2007.) Combined, the two towns comprising the South Fork had a population of 74,431 in the year 2000, of which 6,126 individuals lived in government-defined poverty. That’s 8.2% of the population, over 1,000 families, who were living in poverty in the Hamptons in the year 2000.

As a point of reference, a couple who are both employed full time (37.5 hours/week) in minimum wage ($7.15 p.h.) jobs, working 51 weeks a year (1 week unpaid vacation, no sick days, no personal days) would gross $27,349 for that year. If they have two children, they would be slightly above the 2007 poverty level — assuming neither one misses much work due to personal or family illness, or other obligations.

So, clearly, the answer is yes, there is poverty in the Hamptons. Who is poor? My research abilities do not extend to that level of detail, but I’m guessing I know at least one family, probably more, who are struggling to make ends meet here in one of the nation’s wealthiest communities. I’m also guessing a few of my retired friends may be close to the poverty borderline too, especially now, after the recent economic meltdown has either jacked up their mortgage rate, devastated their invested retirement funds, or both.

Then, of course, we have the sad state of affairs, often commented on in this blog: the complete lack of affordable housing. This dearth of reasonably priced places to live  is driving lower- and middle-class people out of the area. Even with what might be considered adequate incomes elsewhere, these folks can’t find a place to live in Sag Hampton. Now, compounding this crisis — and a crisis is what it is for reasons that have been documented elsewhere on this blog — we have the credit crunch, which makes getting a mortgage impossible even for those half-dozen or so lucky individuals who have actually found a home they can afford to buy.

But, I digress. From a poverty perspective, the “affordable housing” problem is not about the folks who can’t find a place to live, it’s about those who have managed to find a place to call home, but in order to afford it have to devote an impossibly high percentage of their income to paying the rent or mortgage. At the end of every month they then find themselves without enough money to pay for other necessities of life. The result is a class of people who, while earning incomes substantially above the government’s poverty level, still can’t afford to both eat and get healthcare; pay their taxes, and buy fuel oil; buy work clothes and buy gas to get to work. It’s poverty Sag Hampton style, but the effects are nonetheless debilitating. Ultimately, these families are forced to make a decision as to whether they want to stay here, in the communities in which they were nurtured, close to family and friends, or to move somewhere else where they will be able to afford all the necessities of life.

So, poverty comes in different forms. I wouldn’t think of comparing the plight of cash-strapped homeowners in Sag Harbor, to the refugees in Darfur. The suffering faced by refugees and the victims of war, famine, despotic governments, and natural disasters, the world over is several orders of magnitude more severe than anything seen in Sag Hampton. Yet, poverty on any level has serious repercussions for both the individual and the community. Our towns and the people in them are not immune to this disease; it’s here among us and requires a personal response from each of us. In the land of the $10.00 bowl of oatmeal, no one should be cold or hungry.

Do something:
The Sag Harbor Food Pantry
Long Island Cares
Peconic Habitat for Humanity

If you know of other worthwhile local organizations, please add their contact information in the comments. Thanks.