Dear CUSD School Board,
Regarding 2012/2013 negotiations: both teams met March 6th with mediator, Steve Pearl. No progress was made. Mr. Pearl said we would meet one more time. If a resolution is not achieved he will release us from mediation, but not certify us to Fact Finding.
I spent all last year telling my members that "we would get further working with the District than against them". It turns out I was wrong. When we asked for language that would codify current practice regarding counselors' caseloads (it would actually save the District money compared to current practice), you said "No". When we asked for language to even out the caseloads for Speech teachers, not decrease the District average, just even them out, you said "No". When we asked for language to drop nurse caseloads down from 3300 kids per nurse to 2500 (Nurses are currently staffed at about 2450), you said "No". When we asked you to pitch in an extra $25 per month to cover our increased premiums in health care, you said "No". You said "No" though we went from the Silver plan to the Red plan letting you keep the savings in premiums. When we were last on the Silver plan our maximum out of pocket expense was $300 per family per year. On the Red plan our maximum out of pocket expense was $3,000 this year and will rise to $4,500 next year.
You did say "Yes" when we offered to give up prep time to accommodate school wide assemblies. You said "Yes" when we offered to work for less than our daily rate (as per contract) during the summer. And we said "Yes" to your language regarding AERIES, a Prep Time Committee, Extended Day Kindergarten, Elementary "relief period" scheduling, and minimum expectations for extra pay assignments.
I guess I was half right. If we worked with the District, started from a reasonable position and tried our best to accommodate the needs of the District, the District would certainly get further. Us? Not so much.
Which brings us to bargaining for the 2013/2014 school year. Both teams met Friday, March 15. CUTA passed an official proposal for Article 6 (hours). I don't believe you will find that proposal to be anywhere near as reasonable as the proposals we passed for 12/13. Being reasonable did not work for us. We ended up with nothing and got nowhere. As promised, we are back to what we used to do. You have come to the table asking for pay cuts in extra duty and stipends while lengthening the work day for elementary teachers and we are shooting for "pie in the sky". We will organize and wear shirts and buttons and etc. In the end, if we get just a small fraction of what we put on the table, we'll still be far ahead of what we got this year trying to start from a reasonable position.
What waste of time and resources. I don't have any regrets that we tried to "play nice" last year. It should have worked. I don't know why it didn't. I have always been honest and upfront with you regarding CUTA's interests and positions. I'm not sure that has been reciprocal.
Sincerely,
Kevin Moretti
CUTA President