Today, Tacoma Public Schools posted on its Web site both the district proposals and Tacoma Education Association proposals on three unresolved collective bargaining issues -- class size, teacher pay and assignment and reassignment of teachers.
This marks the first time the public can see for themselves and compare the bargaining positions of the district and TEA.
Both sides met Saturday with no significant progress. The district team asked to bargain today; however, the TEA team declined saying, in its words, the union did not have a "quality proposal" on economics to present. As of now, the two sides have no bargaining sessions scheduled to discuss the teachers collective bargaining agreement before members of the TEA vote Monday evening whether to strike.
The TEA has not moved on any of the three unresolved issues since its members took a strike vote Aug. 31:
The district provided two options for the TEA to help absorb a cut in teacher pay made by the state Legislature. However, the TEA has held firm to its proposal that, despite cuts in teacher pay by the State Legislature, it wants teachers to continue to receive the same pay and turn four full school days into early-release days for students, which cuts classroom learning time for students and allows teachers to work the equivalent of two fewer days for the same pay.
The district has offered to keep class sizes at all grade levels the same despite the loss of $13 million in supplemental state funding for up to 128 teachers since 2008 that allowed the district to keep class sizes low. The TEA wants the district to reduce class sizes by one student at every grade level, which would require the district to hire more than 30 extra teachers at an ongoing cost of $1.8 million a year -- during a time of massive cuts to K-12 funding by the Legislature.
The district also proposed a system about how to handle teachers displaced when demographics, programs or funding require changes in the numbers of teachers and types of classes at a school. The district proposal aims to find the best match between a teacher's skill set and the unique needs of individual classrooms of students. The TEA rejected any system aimed at finding the best fit for teachers and schools except the current contract language that bases all displacement and assignment decisions on seniority.
The TEA has scheduled a strike vote for Monday, but opened the voting to its members beginning last Thursday, even though bargaining sessions with the district were continuing.
The district's special Web site on labor negotiations includes a Questions & Answers section. You also can send an email with questions or comments for School Board members.