[Editor’s Note: Mr. Mielke is President of the Teachers Union.]
There was good news and bad news yesterday.
First, the good news is that your Teachers Union bargaining team came to a tentative agreement with the Culver City Unified School District management team with the help of a state-appointed mediator.
The full text of the agreement was sent out yesterday in a joint update from the District and the Union. The highlights:
* CCUSD will complete an early retirement incentive analysis by January with the intent of offering such a program next June.
* Furlough days: We'll take five unpaid days next year. We're still in the process of determining, with the classified union and management, when those days will be scheduled. Upper management will take six unpaid days.
* Elementary prep time: Eight Wednesdays shall be designated as “meeting-free.” This was a creative solution that gives elementary teachers some additional prep time at no cost to the district.
* Evaluation: Teachers being evaluated “ahead of schedule” now will have the contractual right to meet with their principal to discuss the reasons for that evaluation.
* Salary schedule credit: We have eased the restrictions for the application of graduate coursework for salary schedule movement.
We probably could have had this settlement months ago.
But we held out with the intent of establishing a progressive furlough days structure. We proposed that management take eight days, teachers take five and classified staff take three.
But we could not convince management to go along with that structure. Getting them to six days was an achievement. That was as far as they would go.
We'll have an all-teacher meeting next Tuesday in the Multi-Purpose Room between Culver City Middle School and Culver City High School (3 o’clock to 4 o’clock) to answer questions about the settlement.
Voting will be at the sites next Thursday.
The bad news: At last night's School Board meeting, four of the five Board members spoke in favor of, and voted for, retaining those $250/month “mileage allowances” for the assistant superintendents.
Only Karlo Silbiger thought that maintaining those perks, while laying off teachers, was wrong.
It was particularly discouraging to see Board members Scott Zeidman, Kathy Paspalis and Steve Gourley, all of whom were elected with the help of the Teachers Union, speaking up in support of those allowances.
Also, the Board approved, by a 3 to 2 vote, the new “Assistant Director of Special Education” position.
Karlo Silbiger and Patricia Siever were particularly upset that this item was being brought to them for approval without prior notice. Both sought a two-week delay to discuss the new position, but the other three members refused their request for delay.
Please don't hesitate to contact your site rep or me directly if you have questions or concerns.
Mr. Mielke may be contacted at davidmielke@ccusd.org
