Hello BTA Members,
Here is an update on the behind the scenes negotiations:
1. The district was able to pay for the restoration of our 4 furlough days with ARRA (Stimulus) Funds from 2008-09 that were set to expire in December of 2010. This means, they still had ARRA funds to pay for our furlough days and we had to fight for them to be returned or probably did not need to take them in the first place.
2. The $2.5 million of the $2.8 million in the Jobs Bill funds that were received are still available to preserve positions for the 2010-11 school year. The Board has promised to use them to avoid sending out excessive RIF notices and then rescinding them later as has been the practice for the last two years. Since some teachers have terminated their employment, we are asking for an updated list of temporary teachers to make sure they match the number of teachers on leave or holding TOSA positions.
3. The cuts proposed in negotiations and the District’s report to the county are the worst case scenario based on many uncertainties.
4. The district’s negotiating team of 2 BUSD administrators and a lawyer continues to attempt to bully BTA’s negotiating team with unlawful demands. The district has issued a “demand” for our proposals, which is unheard of amongst our CTA colleagues. A “demand for information” is a legal tool that we use to request public information. This “demand” for proposals is the district’s tactic to get all of our information on the table and rush through the bargaining process. Just as the district filed “impasse” last year when we were not even in negotiations, this tactic is ill advised and probably illegal. This is the district’s latest tactic to bully us into taking cuts that will not be necessary when all of the facts are in place.
5. To prepare ourselves for what the district may be planning, we are looking for a crisis captain at each site. This person would only be responsible for contacting members about collective actions, i.e. attending board meetings, rallies, etc. This person should not be a site representative. Please consider taking this position to organize your site and keep them informed.
Thank you for taking time to read this update and feel free to reply. Please forward this email to the home email of members who are not on our list and encourage them to give us their updated email address.
Lori Adams
BTA President
Important Dates
Feb. 14 – BTA Organizing Committee Meeting – BTA Office – 12:30pm
Feb. 15 – Benefits Committee Meeting – 4pm
College Forum - John Muir Middle School Auditorium - 7pm
Feb. 16 - BTA Representative Council – BTA Office 3:30pm
Feb. 17 – BTA Bargaining Team Meeting – BTA Office 4pm
BUSD Board of Education Meeting – City Hall – 6pm
Feb. 18 – Sen. Carol Liu’s Roundtable on Teacher and District Effectiveness – Location TBD – 4pm
Feb. 23 – BTA-BUSD Negotiations
Feb. 24 – Viewing of “The Race to Nowhere” – Woodbury University - 7pm-9pm
Feb. 28 – Math Task Force