Every year about this time, the same Culver City storyline seems to emerge.
With only days left in the school term, the Teachers Union and the School District bargaining teams sit down for their final scheduled session tomorrow afternoon at the District Office.
“We are just trying to get some working conditions settled,” Union President David Mielke told the newspaper.
In light of the fiscal strait jacket that all California public schools are wearing, he said that “we have taken everything that costs money off the table.”
How close are they to a new contract?
“We aren’t,” Mr. Mielke said. “We probably are not going to settle. This looks as if it is going to carry over until next year. Then that will postpone next year’s talks.
“Now next year will be interesting,” said Mr. Mielke, who has been in office almost twice as long as President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“Some districts will be asking their teachers for concessions. It certainly would behoove our District to settle this year’s negotiations promptly.”
Little Things Mean a Lot
He asserted that Supt. Myrna Rivera Cote and Asst. Supt. David El Fattal “have ignored everything we have asked for. I’m just talking about things like limits on meetings. And we have a problem at an elementary school. The principal expects you to do the student council or the debate team for free. We want to clarify that. What do we have to do? What do we not have to do?
“This is the kind of stuff the District should work with us on,” Mr. Mielke said. “But if it carries over ‘til next year, so be it.
“We understand the crisis everybody is in. So we said we are not going to ask for anything that costs money.”
Mr. Mielke’s descriptive tones have changed noticeably from last year when he said that Dr. Cote’s arrival brought a lonng-missing collegial environment to bargaining sessions.
What has happened in the meantime?
