Your LTA Bargaining Team met again with the district on May 18, 2012 and made comprehensive proposals on Article 3 – Association Rights, Article 9 – Class Size, and Article 21 – Individualized Educational Program (IEP).  The district offered counterproposals to our proposals from last session (Article 7 – Work Year and Hours of Employment and Article 18 – School Leadership).  The district also made a proposal on Article 6 – Compensation and Benefits that could potentially exchange furlough days and salary reductions for rehiring most RIF’ed permanent and probationary teachers for one year (more details below, and the full text of all proposals is available here).

Expect a Bargaining Survey early next week.  Now that most of the Association’s proposals have been officially presented to the district, your Bargaining Team needs your guidance again about to how to prioritize the proposals as we move forward toward an agreement.  Your feedback is crucial because it will help guide the Bargaining Team at the May 31st bargaining session, where they will respond to the district’s proposals.

Link to all bargaining documents

Link directly to District’s furlough day/salary cut proposal

LTA Proposals

Article 3 – Association Rights:

• Protect variance votes by ensuring secret ballots;
• Allow LTA to pay sub costs for members released to attend CTA-sponsored professional development and/or union business;
• Designate two Association representatives to each district committee to represent members’ needs;
• Provide contractual path for all temporary contract teachers to attain probationary/permanent status;
• Ensure the academic freedom and the right of teachers to express their opinions;
• Protect teachers’ personal lives from district interference.

Article 9 – Class Size:

• Maintain CSR and QEIA class sizes for at least one more year (2012-2013).  This would maintain current class sizes and preserve all teacher jobs except those lost due to declining enrollment;
• Establish absolute caps on class sizes in all content areas.

Article 21 – Individualized Educational Programs (IEP):

• Change the name of the article to “Special Education”;
• Protect the right of special education teachers to transfer to regular education assignments if so desired;
• Establish case load limits for special education teachers;
• Establish a Special Education Committee made up of special education teacher representatives from each school to address special education issues, work-load issues, and review the district’s special education plan;
• Grant special education teachers the right to release time for completion of paperwork and professional development.

MOU Regarding the Effects and Conditions of the Proposed RIF:

• Rehire laid-off teachers in order of seniority;
• Extend probationary teachers’ rehire rights from 24 to 36 months;
• Create rehire rights for temporary contract teachers;
• Clarify rehire process and priority substituting rights of permanent and probationary teachers;
• Create substituting rights for temporary contract teachers;
• Extend medical benefits of laid-off teachers (permanent, probationary and temporary) through Dec. 31, 2012.

District Proposals

Counterproposals on Article 7 – Association Rights & Article 18: School Leadership

• Full text of the district’s counterproposals available on the LTA web page (here).

Article 6 – Compensation and Benefits:

• 8 furlough days and 3% salary reduction for 3 years (2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015).  This would preserve all teacher jobs except those lost due to declining enrollment for 1 year (2012-2013).
• Both parties would have the right to re-open negotiations if revenue projections change significantly.

Article 25 – Term:

• This would be 3-year deal.