By Alex White
Executive Opinion Editor
Karl Kurz, president of the Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association, announced that the MBUTA ratified the tentative agreement with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District on Sept. 19 to end negotiations and establish a new contract for MBUSD teachers.
The negotiations began to raise more attention when MBUTA announced that its members would refuse to participate in unpaid duties until the contract dispute was solved, and with the tentative agreement reached, the teachers will now resume these functions.
“Everyone worked to find the best solution under the circumstances,” MBUSD Deputy Superintendent Rick Bagley said. “All negotiation [team] members put in many hours and demonstrated strong commitment to goals.”
The negotiation process began with “sunshining” in March. After the MBUTA and MBUSD failed to reach an agreement this summer, the district Board of Trustees declared a unilateral impasse and moved into mediation. In the process, a mediator from the California Public Employment Relations Board helped the two sides see eye to eye.
“An impasse can be unilaterally declared,” MBUSD Board President Ellen Rosenberg said. “It was a stalemate. We had seven negotiation sessions, and it did not seem productive to go forward the way we were.”
Before the mediation, the union requested a raise of 9% or more, which the teachers believed would adequately assist teachers with the increased cost of living.
“We had a disagreement with the district over whether or not they could finance an ongoing increase in salary,” MBUTA negotiator and Mira Costa social science teacher Adam Geczi said. “The reason we reached an agreement is because the district tried to make this work with us.”
The terms for the new contract include a 3% raise for the teachers for the 2012-13 year and potentially for 2013-14 as well, depending on the California state funding on a per-student basis. The raise is also retroactive to July 1.
The 3% raises will remain if the Average Daily Attendance funding remains the same after the vote on Proposition 30 in November. If the ADA funds drop by $50 or more per student, the raise will drop to 2%, by $100 or more, the raise will be 1%, and $150 or more, there will be no pay raise in 2013-14.
“This agreement makes us one of the few districts in California to provide a raise,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said. “Most districts are taking on furlough days, so I am thrilled that we can increase our employees’ compensation.”
Before the two parties reached the tentative agreement, Board members had suggested the teachers were breaching Article 15 of their contract, which prohibits MBUTA from causing any type of “interference with the operations of the District.”
The teachers, however, maintained throughout the negotiation process that the district would have no legal ground to stand on regarding Article 15.
“We had a mutually agreed-upon collective bargaining process,” Rosenberg said. “If they are choosing to pick certain elements and say they don’t apply to them, I just don’t agree with that.”
Health and welfare packages will stay the same as they were in the previous contract. In addition, the new contract will give teachers a raise from $31.83 per hour they work overtime to $38.
“One of the most important questions was why we were providing services that the state wasn’t paying for,” Geczi said. “When you add up the cost of living adjustments, we’re 19.4% behind the increase that the state numbers show.”
This agreement is only tentative and still requires passage by the MBUSD board. The board will vote on the contract at the Oct. 3 meeting.
The tentative agreement extends through June 30, 2014. By the next round of negotiations, both sides will know whether the state’s critical tax initiative has passed. Voters will vote on the initiative on Nov. 6, before the next round of negotiations.
“This tentative agreement reflects what our Board felt it could commit without putting the short or long term fiscal stability of MBUSD at risk,” Bagley said.
Negotiations will occur on Oct. 5 to review the teacher evaluation system. In these negotiations, the MBUSD board and MBUTA will discuss merit-based raises.
“The MBUSD board is pleased to support our teachers and looks forward to working with them to finalize negotiations,” Rosenberg said in a press release.
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