No Time to Rejoice?
David Mielke, president of the Teachers Union, told thefrontpageonline.com at the end of the ballot counting on Tuesday that this settlement, after two previous false starts, is just a warm-up for next year. Ms. Jaffe looked and sounded happier than Mr. Mielke. ”It has been a difficult process,” she said. “But I am very pleased with the way it came out. I am happy for the teachers that they are getting increases. They deserve them. This is a great district.”
Before the settlement was ratified, Union members claimed they had not received a raise in five years. The new deal gives them a 1 percent raise retroactive to last school year and a 4 percent raise covering the full present school year. Relations in public between representatives of the School District and members of the Union, along with their defenders, had deteriorated to a perilous level. The rhetoric from unhappy teachers probably was more shrill than it had been in recent years.
Now It Is Up to the Board
The single remaining step to making the contract official is approval by the School Board at its next meeting, Tuesday, June 13.
Reacting to Mr. Mielke’s desire to open preliminary discussions immediately for the next school year, Ms. Jaffe indicated she is amenable to the suggestion. “We do not want any delays,” she said. The teachers opening bid, according to Mr. Mielke, will be to seek a raise that matches the average pay increase the 52 members of the School District management team are expected to receive soon.
Postscript
Teacher balloting was formful, a powerful endorsement of the new contract, at nine of the 11 voting sites. The eyebrow-raisers were at El Marino School, where teachers voted 16 for and 16 against, and Culver City High School, where the affirmative vote was 35 to 25, perceived to be a narrow margin. Some Union officials also were surprised that teachers at the Middle School voted so lopsidedly 55 to 2 to support the contract. Middle School teachers were said to have provided the impetus for two earlier rounds of picketing by teachers.
