The Board will vote on ratifying a contract settlement with our teachers at this Thursday’s meeting. The agreement, which was approved by the teachers late last week, completes the negotiation cycle for the 2009/2010 school year, and allows everyone to focus on the start of the upcoming school year.
The agreement enables the District to implement class size increases and compensation changes that were already budgeted for the 2010/2011 school year. Under the agreement, teachers will not receive any seniority-based compensation increases for the current school year, and will work one less staff development day compared to the school year that just ended. Two other non-teaching work days, which were already sacrificed in the 2009/2010 school year, will not be worked in the 2010/2011 school year, either. This gives a total of three furlough days for the 2010/2011 school year, none of which are classroom teaching days.
I have very mixed emotions about this settlement. I’m glad we can put the negotiation process behind us and get on with our real task of educating students. I’m angry that the State of California has stubbornly refused to change the way it finances public education, resulting in the need for districts throughout the state to force hard-working employees to accept cutbacks and givebacks. I’m disturbed that it took so long to get our teachers to understand the need for reducing the District’s compensation expense. And I’m nervous that the settlement we’ve reached assumes positive news on the fundraising front won’t be offset by further State cutbacks.
On balance I think I can breath a little easier, for a little while. But as I’ve said multiple times over the last few years, we aren’t out of the woods yet. Or, to use a nautical metaphor, we have a lot of reefs and shoals to navigate past before we get to a place where the waters are at least a little calmer.