In June the Capo School District demanded a 10% compensation concession from the Teacher’s Union (CUEA), providing six options from which the union could choose to reach the 10% goal. Teachers have since hit the streets with pickets, and hundreds of teachers plan to protest at the Capo Board meeting next Tuesday, Dec. 15. The Union scheduled several buses to transport the teachers.
After a stalemate arose last summer, the District asked the Public Employee Relations Board to declare an impasse. PERB then appointed a mediator who was unable to facilitate a settlement after six meetings. An impartial three-person fact finding panel will now review the arguments and proposals from both sides and issue a set of non-binding recommendations for a settlement. The panel is scheduled to meet privately at the end of January and must issue a recommendation within 30 days thereafter.
If the sides do not voluntarily agree with the panel’s recommendation, the District may unilaterally impose its last, best and final offer, which currently would be a 10% reduction from a combination of the six options presented in June. Teachers could engage in a work stoppage, but that would be many months from now, and such strikes are rare.
The District says its administrators and principals have already elected to take one furlough day per month plus a salary rollback, totaling 10-11% reduction in compensation depending on the employee’s position. The CUEA is not as cooperative, although it has stated it would prefer furloughs over cuts in pay rates.
Following are the six options given to the Union by the District:
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Reducing all certificated salary schedules across the board
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Freezing Step & Column increases that most of our teachers automatically receive each year for longevity and professional growth. This equals about a 2% automatic cost to the district each year
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Reducing the teacher work year of up to five days (furlough) with a corresponding reduction in the annual base pay
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Freezing the district contribution for health insurance premiums for each plan and each tier at the 2009 levels and implementing monthly individual payroll deductions effective at the commencement of the new plan year
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Purchasing insurance coverage and health plans through alternative providers effective 1/1/10, and
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Eliminating retiree health benefits effective 6/30/10.
The district is facing a $25 million budget shortfall and a 10% concession from teachers would save about $20 million. The balance would come from program cuts.
CUSD says current pay examples are:
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Beginning teacher (Step 1, BA degree + 30 units) = $264.32 per day
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Mid-career teacher (Step 10, BA + 75 units 10 years exp) = $429.54 per day
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Veteran Teacher (Top of the pay scale with MA degree) = $534.76 per day
Click here to review the full pay scale.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice use of figures. Sounds like they make a lot more than the base 48,000 and some change. The median income in the US is 46,000.
Let’s take another look at the budget problem. We’ve been cutting taxes since Reagan. It was really hard to see this day coming. Or those water mains breaking in LA . . . or that freeway bridge that fell into the Mississippi in Minneapolis.
The U.S. was a great idea until personal greed got in the way.
Yeah, that’s right make the people who actually contribute something take the punch. Meanwhile the people who don’t contribute anything vote themselves lifetime medical benefits and over pay for street medians that are butt ugly.
The meeting is on Tuesday Dec 15 at 7, not on Thursday.
[Editor's Note: Thanks for the catch. Correction made.]