As the decades-long President of the Teachers Union, David Mielke’s 17-point response to the School District’s proposed framework for this year’s contract negotiations was made available at last night’s School Board meeting in Council Chambers.
When the initial collective bargaining outline was announced, Mr. Mielke made a pitch for broader, deeper participation.
“I would like to see the public be more involved in these public hearings,” he said.
Addressing the School Board, now led by President Kathy Paspalis, and District officials, headed by Supt. Dave LaRose, Mr. Mielke declared confidence for his position.
“As I was rereading our proposal to you,” he said, “that this is something the public (and the professional school community) will support because, as always, the big issues for teachers are class size and compensation.
“In years past, we didn’t have a choice – there were only two dollars, and we would be asked, where do you want them to go?
“Teachers always would tell us: ‘My biggest concern is I cannot be effective in a large class.’
“My classes this year average 36 students for every period,” Mr. Mielke said.
In passing, he mentioned a conversation with a veteran colleague who told the union leader that oversized classes change the way he teaches.
“He told me,” said Mr. Mielke, “that such classes force you away from critical thinking, from essays and exercises.
“So I think this is something that this is something the community will support, trying to get some kind of limits on the number of kids in classes.”
In his 17-point written response, Mr. Mielke raised two issues:
- Establish “semi-absolute” class size maximums for individual classrooms.
- Establish caseload maximums for nurses.
“In terms of compensation, I think it is important for us to be competitive,” Mr. Mielke told the Board.
“If we are not competitive,” he said, “we are not going to be able to attract and retain the best teachers.
“Currently, we are not competitive.
“In terms of benefits, we are right at the median among the 47 school districts in the County. But in terms of salary, depending on where you are in your career,” he said, teachers “might be somewhere in the 40s.”
Mr. Mielke’s first counter-proposal to the District called for developing “a salary increase formula designed to bring CCUSD salaries to the median in L.A. County within five years.”
Among others:
- Establish a new department chair stipend for nurses.
- Add one new longevity step for K-12 and Office of Child Development teachers.
- Remove the five-years-in-District requirement for moving into longevity steps.
- Increase all class coverage rates and the $35/hour extra-duty rate.
In closing, Mr. Mielke said the community “should be concerned that our compensation package is not able to attract and keep people.”
