District Administration - May 2010 - (Page 56)

supervisor’s opinion • eamonn o’Donovan Management and unions must work together in the face of an unprecedented funding crisis for public schools. It has been another tough spring for school districts across the nation. The economic crisis of the past two years is hitting school systems hard as districts plan for the 2010-2011 school year. state support to schools continues to decline, and the “soft landing” afforded by federal stimulus monies is a thing of the past. school districts must cut costs but find their options constrained by restrictive labor agreements in addition to the collective bargaining process itself. If ever there was a time for a new approach to bargaining, it is now. Many budget experts predicted that 2010-2011 would be the toughest year for schools. For example, more school districts in orange County, Calif., have filed negative or qualified budgets than in previous years, meaning that they cannot maintain required budget reserves for the next couple of years. In other words, districts do not have the reserves, or savings account, to cover their deficit between increased expenditures and decreasing revenues. even as state funding declines, school districts are locked into automatic pay increases for employees in the form of step-and-column advancement for longevity. In many places, freezing these pay raises can only be agreed to through the bargaining process. of course, there is severe pressure on school districts to rein in costs, given that there is little hope of increased funding from states, which are facing severe budget cuts to all services. school districts will have to enter another round of belt-tightening to balance budgets. Goals and processes not Aligned The content of individual labor contracts generates costs for districts, but a bigger problem is the systematic mismatch be56 May 2010 no Time for old Tactics Bargaining is taking longer now because the simple budget cuts were made a long time ago. Districts have already cut down to the bone. tween separate but interconnected budget and bargaining cycles. The timelines for budget implementation and collective bargaining prevent measured action. For example, California education Code requires districts to provide notice to teachers of potential job reductions by March 15; however, districts make budgets in June for the following school year. to further complicate the matter, these budgets are often preliminary, as California often passes its budget in the summer. It is therefore hard for bargaining teams to know when to pull the trigger on a final deal. school districts have to preliminarily lay off teachers in order to keep options open as the budget picture develops through the spring. For the past five years, layoffs have become a rite of spring, like the swallows returning to Capistrano. In California, more than 23,000 pink slips were handed to teachers on March 15, the statutory deadline to notify teachers of potential job losses. Layoffs can be avoided if salary concessions are arrived at through collective bargaining, but by its very nature, collective bargaining is a timeconsuming process. bargaining is taking longer now simply because budget cuts were made a long time ago. Districts have already cut down to the bone. They can reduce the number of employees who serve children—this means teachers mostly, thereby raising the number of students assigned to remaining teachers—or they can cut salaries and/or health and welfare benefits for all employees. both choices are unpopular with labor unions. salary and job preservation are leverage points during collective bargaining. traditional collective bargaining between teacher unions and individual school boards is fraught with tension, as elected officials seek to preserve management rights and protect programs for students while the main, but not sole, goal of teacher unions is to protect conditions for their members. even when labor and management have the same interests, the process of collective bargaining and the District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2010

District Administration - May 2010
Contents
Tech Disruptions
From the Editor
News Update
Technology
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Problem Solution
Power to the Students!
Lone Star
Racing for Reform
Department of Education Revives Civil Rights Office
New Products
Product Focus
Crisis Response
Supervisor’s Opinion
Professional Opinion

District Administration - May 2010