How does a 3.3 percent raise sound? What about 6.9 percent, or maybe 14.1?

Back when Plainville teachers negotiated those wage increases for 2009-10, times were good and the news of 3.3 percent across-the-board raises - coupled with the usual seniority increments - created no stir. But now?

"The town council's position is that our employees have the ability to save jobs. If they choose to take the raises instead, we'll have to trade jobs and services," Town Manager Robert Lee said.

Plainville is hardly alone: Time is running out for recession-struck communities to set new budgets before July 1, and more than two dozen towns have been pressing for wage freezes or other concessions from teachers. Many already have asked their municipal workers to skip raises - but the biggest payroll money is usually in teacher contracts, and that's where attention is focused now.

"If there's going to be pressure, you're going to see it between now and June 30 when the budgets are finalized," said Joe Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

Last week, Cirasuolo's organization projected Connecticut schools will cut 933 teaching jobs - through layoffs, attrition or both - before August. That's a shade less than 2 percent of the state's roughly 50,000 teachers.

"And I'm afraid it's going to get worse," Cirasuolo said.

His organization also polled 92 school systems about concessions; only 32 had asked for givebacks, with just 17 of those getting any answer from their unions. Only one reported successful renegotiations so far.

"I don't see evidence of widespread willingness by teachers' bargaining agents to reopen contracts," Cirasuolo said.

In some cases, though, teachers have already given some ground.

Bristol recently gave teachers an across-the-board raise of about $1,300 each for the 2009-10 contract year. That averages out to 1.9 percent, far less than the 3 to 4 percent raises in communities that signed contracts before the economy imploded. In exchange for the $1,300 per teacher, Bristol's union agreed to freeze all seniority raises - known as step increases - until the following year. The city plans to eliminate 10 to 12 teaching jobs by next fall, but the toll would be far worse without the union's help, Superintendent Philip Streifer said.

"What the teachers did was very admirable - steps cost a lot of money," Streifer said.

East Hartford, which plans to cut dozens of teachers, so far has no concessions from its teachers. Mayor Melody Currey holds out hope, though: "I have to believe the union will come to the table."

In Plainville, Lee hopes renegotiations can knock down the $950,000 cost of raises for school staff in the new fiscal year. The entire proposed budget for education and town government totals about $53 million.

Lee has told the police, public works and clerical unions that he'll order layoffs to compensate for any raises they negotiate in new contracts for next year.

The union is talking with school administrators and trying to avoid as many as 20 teacher layoffs, a prospect that President Edward Dickman blamed on the council's support for a budget increase of just $175,000

By contract, about 90 teachers at top seniority will get 3.3 percent raises after July 1. Another 120 will get that 3.3 percent plus their annual step increases, making overall raises of 6.9 percent. And nearly a dozen teachers are on step 14, historically the point when Plainville gives a major increase. They're set to receive 14.1 percent raises; a teacher paid $66,809 this year would jump to $76,277 after July 1.

Dickman said the percentage increases by step shouldn't be an issue.

"This should not be the focus of attention because it gives the general public the false impression that some teachers are receiving some type of bonus or extra salary increase, when in fact it is all part of a 15-year process or journey to the top of the salary schedule," he said.