This past week, I was pleased to hear (via the
RCTA and
CSEA negotiations
update) that the joint negotiating teams from both the union and the district arrived at a
tentative agreement. This was true for both the CSEA and RCTA groups. Essentially, the agreements (subject to
ratification) do the following things:
- Freeze all existing agreements/MOUs in place – including the 5 furlough days
- Freeze all RCTA / CSEA employee positions (NO layoffs) for the remainder of this year and for all of the next school year (2011-12)
- Increase the district contribution to medical benefits from $9,000 to $9,500 for a one year period (with the hope that things will improve in the interim)
- And a few other tweaks and twists
Bottom line, if we can save jobs (and families) and provide
confidence to them for the coming holiday season and new year –
THAT would be fantastic. I applaud our combined teams and the critical, time-sensitive work that they have put into these proposed agreements.
Kudos to all!! Hopefully, this happens and things improve so that we NEVER need to undertake layoffs again.
Does this do anything for those of us who are still laid off?
ReplyDeleteOur memorandum says that as many as 17 teachers could be laid off. Why does this say NO layoff?
ReplyDeleteDr. Miller,
ReplyDeleteThe discussion on the RCTA site is not positive. Many teachers are upset by this TA and don't sound like they're going to vote for it. This saddens and disturbs me as I’ll likely be pink slipped once again. Teachers want answers. Many schools currently have primary classrooms above the 26.5 student/teacher ratio. There are lots of combination classes. This is not what teachers thought they were getting when they voted for furlough days. Why are the district reserves increasing? It is real tough to expect teachers to take a cut when the district has $71 million dollars in reserves. The reserves have grown over the last year, why? Where is the Federal Job’s money? What jobs has that money saved? If furlough days will save the less than the 60 teachers it saved this year, why will 400-500 teacher need to be pink slipped? That's retaliatory and excessive. The unnecessary pink slipping of teachers and other employees is tremendously disturbing and disruptive. The teachers who work for you have their lives placed on hold and planning at the school comes to a complete halt. The staff becomes polarized and fractured. We can’t continue RIFing the same people year after year. This is just plain cruel. I truly believe that teachers will do the right thing if presented with reasonable answers to these questions. Please provide a timely forum which will bring answers to the teachers so that informed decisions can be made.
I am a bit puzzled and concerned as to how the Tentative (as in, yet to be approved) Agreement between RCTA and RUSD became a done deal, according to the Press-Enterprise ("RUSD Will Have No Teacher Lay-Offs in 2011-2012"), when voting does not occur until the week of November 29th. From what I have observed, the passage of the Tentative Agreement is tenuous at best. It seems as though we may have a "wag the dog" situation brewing here, since the district has clearly jumped the gun on the TA's passage. Accuracy in reporting, both on the part of the district and Press-Enterprise, is in the best interest of all parties involved in the negotiations to avoid misunderstandings, etc. on the part of the families of RUSD students who are directly impacted by this "Tentative" (yet to be approved) Agreement.
ReplyDeleteMost disturbing is the media politicking the District is conducting related to the T.A.. Why is the District commenting on T.A. in the media when it has not been voted on yet? What is the purpose of this type of action? Is this "self-interest based bargaining?" Only two possibilities exist: 1) the District did not understand the implications of making such statements and got swept up by a moment of optimistic euphoria or; 2) the District understood full well the implications of their statements. I'm not sure which of the possibilities is worse! Maybe it would have been more helpful to publish a few facts. The community could have been informed about the $71 million dollars being kept in reserve in the District Budget. Maybe the parents/taxpayers could have also been swept away by the reality of how $71 million dollars could improve the lives of students in RUSD. Maybe the District could let us all in on the big “secret” plan for the $71 million dollars!
ReplyDeleteI find it apalling that the district and RCTAwould put teachers in a position to "slit their own throats" by voting any way on this MOU. If we vote "yes", teachers will have another year of reduced pay and a race to get everything done according to the rigid pacing given to us by the powers that be. If we vote "no" we have opened ourselves up to an exorbitant amount of money paid out for health insurance. When I was hired, I paid NOTHING! Whe the dist has $71 million in reserve, how can you even suggest that we ratify the double edged TA?
ReplyDeleteWhere’s the Federal Jobs money? I cannot understand why a district would want to pink slip its teachers when it is sitting on money the federal government sent to prevent laying off teachers! Pink slipping teachers is not healthy for the district. It causes tremendous havoc and robs the teacher of their ability to focus on their students. It fractures the staff and causes irreparable damage. Please do not unnecessarily issue hundreds of pink slips once again.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember that there are still teachers who are laid off (I think 30-40)? Maybe the Press needs to be informed that the district is sitting on Federal Jobs money and a large reserve while they still have laid off teachers from last year and are asking teachers to take furloughs for next year to "prevent layoffs."
ReplyDelete