Teachers vote to ‘hold the line’ during financial crisis
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – The SAD 1 Education Association is doing its part to help balance the 2010-11 school budget by holding the line on the first year of a two-year contract.
“Teachers have agreed by a near unanimous vote of our membership to ‘current contract’ for the next school year,” said Judy Atcheson, co-president of the teachers’ union. “It is my belief that this action on our part will allow the district to stabilize and plan ahead.”
Under the agreement, year one of a two-year contract includes no new money added to the base pay.
“People who are due to get an ‘experience step’ still get that and those steps have to be funded each year by the school system,” said Mark White, chief negotiator for the SAD 1 Education Association.
Year two includes a $250 increase to the base pay and a $50 increase to the board’s contribution of medical insurance.
A lot of legwork went into reaching the decision.
“Co-president Ellyn Whitten-Smith and I have been meeting formally and informally with Superintendent Gehrig Johnson to keep current on the impact on SAD 1,” said Atcheson. “When we became aware of how dramatic the cuts would be, we met with our negotiating team. It was decided that we would make every effort to minimize the impact of reductions on our students and community through the negotiations process.”
White also met with Business Manager Charles Anderson to help understand the financial difficulty the district was facing.
“There was a lot of talk back and forth,” said White. “As a negotiations team, we started looking at some worst-case scenarios. We didn’t want to lose what we currently have, and we felt that possibly by opening the contract, that we might lose some of what we have. Other associations are having to settle for furlough days or having money taken away from benefits, and we wanted to do everything we could to at least stay where we are in these awful times.
“The teachers are very much aware of the current financial atmosphere in the state, and we wanted to be able to maintain our class sizes and maintain the quality of education for our kids,” he said. “That’s why we came up with holding the line on the first year of the contract. We read the newspapers and watch TV … we know what’s going on. We knew what our district was up against, and we wanted to show the public and the school board that we’re in touch with what’s going on.”
Atcheson said it’s important to maintain small class sizes.
“Maintaining small class sizes is to the benefit of students, particularly young children and children who are at-risk,” she said. “Research clearly shows that smaller classes link to higher achievement.”
Johnson said he was pleased with the association’s willingness to hold the line during this financial crisis.
“We are fortunate to have a great teaching staff in SAD 1. Our teachers are very tuned in to the financial hardships facing us in the next two years,” he said. “We are appreciative that they have agreed to do their part to balance the budget.”
“SAD 1 faculty are committed to this community and consider themselves partners with students, parents, administration and community in making SAD 1 an outstanding school district,” said Atcheson.
The SAD 1 board of directors ratified the two-year contract at its March 10 meeting. The contract extends to Aug. 15, 2012.
