Publication Date: Friday, December 09, 2005
Talks over school salaries put off to new year
Talks over school salaries put off to new year
(December 09, 2005) Teachers work without contract while dispute over raises continues
by Alexandria Rocha
After three months of negotiations over a new contract, the Palo Alto school district and its teachers' union last week agreed to defer further bargaining to January, thus dodging a complete impasse.
The district's 800 teachers have been working without a contract since July. At issue are rising health-care costs and a difference in opinion about how much property-tax revenue is available for salary increases.
The teachers received a 2.23 percent increase last school year -- their first raise in three years.
Last week, the teachers overwhelmingly rejected the district's offer for the one-year contract, deciding to "hold the line for a reasonable and fair settlement," according to the union's Web site.
"We did a very rapid polling of our membership and there was a resounding 'No,'" said Steve Sabbag, president of the Palo Alto Educators' Association.
The district offered a 2 percent raise retroactive to July, but the teachers have asked for 3.75 percent.
The offer also promised that if the city's property taxes are more than 7 percent higher than last year, the teachers would get 50 percent of the surplus. The teachers, however, have asked for 75 percent of the excess of property taxes over 5 percent.
Because the Palo Alto Unified School District is a community-funded system, its revenue -- and budget -- is largely contingent upon local property taxes. That means employee salaries are oftentimes up in the air until the county reports the district's property-tax revenue at the end of each school year.
Last year, the teachers negotiated a contract that included half of any property taxes above 5.1 percent. The teachers ended up with a 2.23 percent raise because property taxes came in around 8 percent. It was the first raise the teachers had seen since 2002.
"We bit our tongues and stomped and said, 'That doesn't feel right, but OK,'" Sabbag said.
This year, property taxes are also the source of contention. While the teachers say the district is underestimating the amount of property-tax revenue it will receive, district officials say they have to be careful and plan for the future.
"You can't just say you don't have the money because we have people who look at the books and say you do," Sabbag said. "(We) can't just say, 'You're right, you have to be cautious, and I'll never get a raise.'"
Some district officials say it's not that simple.
"I don't think the district would be good stewards of public money if we didn't consider the five- and 10-year model," said Mandy Lowell, vice president of the Board of Education. "No one has a crystal ball, but I can tell you there will be ups and downs in property taxes."
The district, however, is negotiating in a slightly different climate this year with the passage of Measure A, an annual parcel tax voters approved in June that brings in about $9 million a year for teacher salaries and a district-wide class-size reduction program.
Sabbag said this year's negotiations are not affected dramatically by Measure A, since those additional funds are already earmarked to keep past salary increases afloat.
Rising health-care costs, a nationwide issue, are complicating the negotiations.
This year, the local district has agreed to absorb the increased costs for its classified employees and is expected to do the same for teachers. The increase is about $1,500 per employee this year, bringing the total cost for each person is $9,792. In 2001-2002, the cost was $5,680.
Another union, representing the classified employees, has already ratified the compensation and benefits portion of its contract with the district. The 580 employees -- who include bus drivers, janitors, and cafeteria servers, among many others without teaching certificates -- negotiated a 1 percent raise retroactive to July and half of any property taxes above 5.5 percent.
Once the teachers ratify their contract, the classified employees will get the same salary increase because of a "me-too" clause in their contract.
Chuck McDonnell, the local union's chapter president, said they were forced to agree to a contract early so they could meet open-enrollment deadlines for health-care coverage. The teachers didn't have to come to an agreement earlier because they have a pot of money set aside to cover heath-care costs while they continue negotiating.
Sabbag and Lowell have said the negotiation "bar" has been set because the classified employees' union has already settled with the district.
The school district's new board members, Barbara Mitchell and Dana Tom -- who were elected to take over for John Barton and Cathy Kroymann -- will have their first regular board meeting Tuesday. The district's negotiating team decided to defer negotiations until the new school-board members took office.
Negotiations between the teachers and district will resume Jan. 4. All meetings are open to the public. For more information, visit www.pausd.org or www.paeacta.org.
Staff Writer Alexandria Rocha can be reached at arocha@paweekly.com.
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