June 23:

·         MCEA needed to respond to about 30 proposals made by the Board team, none of which were good for teachers

·         MCEA passed across the table a number of proposals and counterproposals on various language issues, including:

o   Strengthening of annual contract renewal conditions

o   Striking out a number of sections in the contract that cannot legally be forced into the contract over MCEA objections (e.g., the ability to file a grievance if the District fires a teacher, or feels that their evaluation result is unfair)

o   Enacting protections against discrimination in hiring or on the job on the basis of creed, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, political belief, economic status, or participation or non-participation in employee organizations

o   Protections for teachers against being disciplined based solely on (for example) pictures students take on their cell phone, or for misusing their own cell phones and other devices

o   Modeling of strategies by evaluators who have employees on Teacher Improvement Plans

o   Committing a progressive discipline procedure to writing

o   Requiring the District to give a letter to employees who are pulled from their classrooms for misconduct investigations explaining why they have been pulled from their classrooms

o   Maintaining the current level of Board contribution to employee health insurance premiums

·         The Board chief negotiator expressed reservations about all of the proposals but said she would take them to the Board during their executive session on the morning of June 24

June 24:

·         The parties have reached verbal agreement on a few small issues, like changing “ESOL” to “ELL”

·         Otherwise, the Board team said “no” to basically everything and didn’t pass any counterproposals across the table

·         The Board chief negotiator threw some numbers on the overhead about how bad the District’s financial condition is, which it didn’t substantiate with any supporting documentation; MCEA believes many of these numbers are irrelevant and misleading, and that the District is using them in an attempt to stoke fear among the public

·         The Board chief negotiator couldn’t keep her proposals straight, made a five minute argument in favor of one of MCEA’s proposals before being told by the rest of her team that she was arguing against her own position, and then blamed the MCEA chief negotiator for her mistake

·         The Board chief negotiator repeatedly insulted the experience and intelligence of the MCEA negotiation team

·         Insisted that language requiring MCEA to waive its right to negotiate health insurance plans and to grieve terminations and evaluations remain in the Contract, which MCEA believes is illegal

·         Based on the first two sessions, MCEA members should prepare for a long and contentious series of negotiations. The Board’s proposals are radical and not justified; MCEA will not agree to any proposal to radically cut benefits until the negotiation team is fully convinced that there is no other option.

~~We were speechless at the proposal that was presented to us.

The district began with a power point presentation on what dire financial straits they are in and how desperate they are to build up the fund balance to 5%. ( Keep in mind the state only requires a 3% fund balance.)  In order to make up the difference in that balance they are proposing that teachers make the big sacrifices first.  For example, eliminating terminal pay for sick leave.  So all of those days you have banked for the pay out to help you with your retirement would simply disappear. .. Gone! You would get nothing for them.  The annual pay option for your sick leave would be gone also..  So, for those of you who take the pay for your unused sick days every year to help yourself out through the summer... Gone.  If you have worked for MCSD for over ten years and are expecting to receive the 15% retirement from the district upon retirement... Gone!  You will have to work 30 consecutive years in MC to get that 15%.  Years of service health insurance benefit is proposed to change by 25%.  If you work for the district 30 years you would get 75% paid, 25 years 50%, and 20 years 25%, less than 20 nothing.  Also, you would only get it for 5 years after retirement or until Medicare kicks in whichever comes first.  Plus, the board proposes to provide a flat amount of $6,350.00 annual insurance contribution toward a medical plan selected by the board.  No Insurance Committee, no input, ... Gone!

 But, you would get the thrill of knowing that the district you work for has a 5% fund balance.

 These are just proposals at this point, but this is what your school board thinks of you.  If you haven't read your ChalkTalk yet, get it and read Pam's Points.  There is an election coming and the three seats that are open need to be filled with people of character, integrity, and respect for the teachers they employ.

~~We were speechless at the proposal that was presented to us. I could give the article numbers and citations for each change, but I think it is easier for you to just get the summary.  Seriously, sit down to read this...

 The district began with a power point presentation on what dire financial straits they are in and how desperate they are to build up the fund balance to 5%. ( Keep in mind the state only requires a 3% fund balance.)  In order to make up the difference in that balance they are proposing that teachers make the big sacrifices first.  For example, eliminating terminal pay for sick leave.  So all of those days you have banked for the pay out to help you with your retirement would simply disappear. .. Gone! You would get nothing for them.  The annual pay option for your sick leave would be gone also..  So, for those of you who take the pay for your unused sick days every year to help yourself out through the summer... Gone.  If you have worked for MCSD for over ten years and are expecting to receive the 15% retirement from the district upon retirement... Gone!  You will have to work 30 consecutive years in MC to get that 15%.  Years of service health insurance benefit is proposed to change by 25%.  If you work for the district 30 years you would get 75% paid, 25 years 50%, and 20 years 25%, less than 20 nothing.  Also, you would only get it for 5 years after retirement or until Medicare kicks in whichever comes first.  Plus, the board proposes to provide a flat amount of $6,350.00 annual insurance contribution toward a medical plan selected by the board.  No Insurance Committee, no input, ... Gone!

 But, you would get the thrill of knowing that the district you work for has a 5% fund balance.

 These are just proposals at this point, but this is what your school board thinks of you.  If you haven't read your ChalkTalk yet, get it and read Pam's Points.  There is an election coming and the three seats that are open need to be filled with people of character, integrity, and respect for the teachers they employ.

We had originally scheduled our next session for this coming Friday, May 30, at 3:30pm.  MCEA has asked to have that date changed due to the lack of time for us to prepare with our FEA bargaining specialist.  We feel that because the contract language that was proposed by the district is so drastic and carries such a huge impact to all teachers we need to careful craft our approach and strategy.  Therefore, we asked the district to move the second session to June 11 at 9:00am.  We understand that this is the first week of our vacation, but at the same time are hopeful that many of you will still be in town and will attend.  Please, make arrangements to be at the school board meeting room on June 11 to see your MCEA Team in action.  We need your support and the district needs to know that this proposal is unacceptable in a big way!!!

Help your team fight to get the board to honor their commitments and not fund the district on the bank accounts of teachers!!!

Have you been wondering what the Flex Day at the beginning of next school year is all about?

 Well here goes....

 The Flex Day and it's use are defined in the contract Article II.2.B.7 which states:            

7. One (1) flex day will be available to teachers each school year. A flex day is defined as a teacher work day immediately preceding the first teacher pre-school work day. Flex days shall be used for planning and classroom preparation. A teacher may elect to work a flex day and then take one of the other teacher workdays off during the school year, including the last post-school day. Teachers must notify principals in advance as much as possible if a flex day will be utilized during any given school year.

 To clarify further, the flex day will be Thursday, August 7.  You do not have to use the flex day.  You can begin your school year on Friday, August 8.  MCEA negotiated this so that elementary teachers who tend to need more time at the beginning of the year to set up classrooms could have it and middle and secondary teachers could use the time at the end of the year when they tended to need it more.  If you work the flex day in August, you will need to notify your principal of the workday that you will not come in.  There is no time specifically stated for this, but the expectation is that you will be professional and give them the information in a timely fashion.