News from the Table
March 24, 2011
After yet another long day at the table, we still have no signed Tentative Agreements.
At the beginning of today’s session, the District provided information requested by BTA about the Professional Development Block Grant. The documentation reiterates our position that the district has flexibility in using these funds but has not lost these funds. It includes the following statement:
- “Nothing in this statute alters any existing contract or bargaining agreements that the LEA may have in place. An LEA should look to the terms of these contracts and agreements and speak with local counsel for additional information…..LEAs may utilize all of their Professional Development (PD) Block Grant funds to provide services for the program or they may use all or part of their PD Block Grant funds for other educational purposes and/or other categorical programs…”
With upcoming changes in teaching methods and testing due to the new California Common Core State Standards, it is BTA’s position, that Professional Development days should not be eliminated.
BTA provided counter offers to the District’s last proposals on Article 5: Complaint Procedures, and Article 13: Leaves that incorporated some of the District’s language.
BTA also provided a proposal for a new article titled Special Education.
We were expecting a comprehensive response to our concerns in Article 15: Safety. What we received was a one sentence response.
- “The District proposes that the article remain status quo”.
The District’s response to our concerns about class size was more of the same.
- “The District continues to propose that we maintain the current 31:1 student-teacher ratio as currently stated in the MOU.”
We believe that these responses are a polite way of saying, “No”. Continually saying “No” is not what we consider negotiating. With the cuts that the District is proposing, we would expect to see more willingness on the part of the District to negotiate on non-cost issues.
Our next bargaining session will be held at the BTA office on April 1, 2011. BTA will present a counter proposal to the District’s Solvency Plan at that session.