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A couple of good articles in smaller local papers about the ongoing contract negotiations between Anoka-Hennepin School District 11 and the teachers union. As I posted about several times, the school district had a referendum in November which passed, thereby renewing a levy with some additional funding for five years.
First, from Peter Bodley from ABC Newspapers:
A mediation session is scheduled between the two sides Monday, Dec. 10, but failure to reach a tentative contract at the last mediation session, Nov. 16, brought some 250 Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota (AHEM) members dressed in red to the Nov. 26 school board meeting to hear Sandra Skaar, AHEM president, read a letter to the school board asking it to get directly involved in the negotiations.
No school board members sit on the district’s negotiating team. The board met in closed session during its Nov. 26 meeting to discuss negotiations strategy.
The next day, Nov. 27, the district’s 2,900 teachers began a work to rule, meaning they are only working their contract duty hours.
Teachers are not coming to school earlier, nor leaving later than spelled out in the contract, according to Skaar.
While extracurricular activities are not affected because teachers are paid under separate extra service agreements, Skaar said teachers are no longer volunteering for such activities as PTO events or evening festivals in which they would normally take part, Skaar said.
Teachers are anxious to get a new contract in place, especially since the district will be penalized by the state if there is no ratified agreement by Jan. 15, 2008, she said.
And with the approaching Christmas and New Year’s holidays, a deal needs to be achieved by Dec. 31 to give the teachers enough time for a ratification vote, Skaar said.
And, from Natalie Spray at the Champlin-Dayton Press:
The union is seeking three key improvements in a new contract.
The biggest point of contention is the teacher salary schedule. Anoka-Hennepin teachers want salaries comparable to others in the metro and in the state, and to the compensation of district administration, Skaar said.
The union is also working to maintain health insurance for both single and family coverage plans, she said.
There are also a host of teacher workload issues. If the district won't address the issues, there at least needs to be a commitment to do so in the future, Skaar said.
All three are money issues, said John Belpedio, AHEM chief negotiator and teacher at Anoka High School.
"We're dealing with a total amount that is inadequate to deal with those three issues," he said.
The union is willing to negotiate a lower salary improvement schedule if health insurance and workload issues are improved, Belepdio said.
"We are reasonable people. We are not asking for the sun, the moon and the stars," Skaar said. "But we are asking our members be treated fairly and that they receive a contract settlement that is in line with other settlements around the state and metro area."
This article also included this quote, which clearly indicates the union viewed the referendum as about them, and not "for the children." (emphasis mine)
More than 200 teachers came to the Nov. 26 school board meeting to express their displeasure in the negotiations. They wore red clothing and held signs.
"The recent levy victory demonstrates how successful we can be when we all work together," Skaar told the board.
Teachers kept concerns about negotiations to themselves and campaigned for the district, and were also the largest financial contributors to the levy yes committees through their AHEM dues, she said.
"Members gave their heart and soul on behalf of the levy," Skaar said. "How do we explain that all of their work for the levy yields a substandard settlement for teachers?"
The union preys on well-meaning parents and citizens, deflecting the focus to the children, when education funding is about continuing pay increases. |
