District Drops One of Contract Sticking Points
Publicola talked with Clover Codd and is reporting that the district has backed off on the issue of eliminating the weekly paid hour of collaborative planning for teachers.
Codd told PubliCola this morning: "We actually withdrew that proposal. The hour of collaboration time pay. We’re leaving that in the contract. And they still get the 2.6 percent compensation for that."
Re: teacher pay, She added: "One thing I think is really important for the public to know is we’re actually offering a 4 percent increase in compensation over two years. It keeps getting published as 2 percent. Well it’s 2 percent in one year, and then an additional 2 percent the next year, for a total of 4 percent. In addition to the restoration of the furloughs, which is 1.3 percent. When you add all that up, it’s actually a 5.3 percent increase over two years."
The union is staying mum until negotiations are done but there is an SEA press conference this afternoon. SEA President Jonathan Knapp said:
"I'm going to respect the confidentiality of the negotiations," he said, adding that he was "surprised" the SPS negotiators would give details about the ongoing negotiations. "That not how you reach a deal." He did say, "movement in one certain aspect of negotiations doesn't mean there's a deal on the table."
On the issue of the teacher evaluations, Codd said:
So it may be down to the nth hour, after all.
Codd told PubliCola this morning: "We actually withdrew that proposal. The hour of collaboration time pay. We’re leaving that in the contract. And they still get the 2.6 percent compensation for that."
Re: teacher pay, She added: "One thing I think is really important for the public to know is we’re actually offering a 4 percent increase in compensation over two years. It keeps getting published as 2 percent. Well it’s 2 percent in one year, and then an additional 2 percent the next year, for a total of 4 percent. In addition to the restoration of the furloughs, which is 1.3 percent. When you add all that up, it’s actually a 5.3 percent increase over two years."
The union is staying mum until negotiations are done but there is an SEA press conference this afternoon. SEA President Jonathan Knapp said:
"I'm going to respect the confidentiality of the negotiations," he said, adding that he was "surprised" the SPS negotiators would give details about the ongoing negotiations. "That not how you reach a deal." He did say, "movement in one certain aspect of negotiations doesn't mean there's a deal on the table."
On the issue of the teacher evaluations, Codd said:
"It’s really puzzling to us, to be quite
honest," she said. "SEA, right after the last contract was negotiated,
touted this version as if it were their idea. We’ve got several videos
with Jonathan Knapp and Glenn Bafia talking about this wonderful system
that we have collaboratively designed that’s so different than what’s
going on in DC and New York and Chicago and the rest of the nation. Here
we come to 2013, and their message has changed."
Codd added that changing from the current,
local evaluation model would jeopardize school funding because the state
model doesn't meet federal standards.
Interesting last statement from her:
We’re actually really hopeful. Yesterday went well; we’ll be at it again
today. We think that after today everything will be on the table. I’m
sure there will be more negotiation as the week continues, and maybe
into the weekend. But at the end of the day, we will definitely reach an
agreement that meets the needs of teachers, educators and the students.
And of course the district.
So it may be down to the nth hour, after all.
Comments
And what was that about school funding? The State will deny school funding because SPS eval system conforms with state law? "That's really puzzling, to be quite honest"
hardworking teacher
Just sayin'
thx