Posts tagged teachers
Salem-Keizer teachers reach tentative agreement on new contract, avoid strike
March 28, 2024 // Still, the district is facing more than a $30 million deficit, Castañeda said. Hundreds of positions will be cut in the coming weeks. “I can tell you that this will be the largest budget cut in over a decade,” Castañeda said. Some parents told KGW that while they're happy a deal was reached, more needs to be done for students and teachers.
WASHINGTON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION GIVES BIG TO PROGRESSIVE CAUSES, TAX RETURN SHOWS
March 25, 2024 // WEA president Larry Delaney, elected to that position by the union’s members, received total compensation from the union of $312,281 for a reported average of 37.5 hours of work per week. The union’s elected vice president, Janie White, received $257,936 in total compensation. However, the union’s hired executive director, Aimee Iverson, far outpaced them both, receiving $415,545 in total compensation from the WEA that year. The Form 990 also disclosed a dozen other top staff, each earning well over $200,000 per year in total compensation. The total number of such employees on the payroll is unknown. Interestingly, unfunded pension obligations towards its current and former staff represent a significant liability for the WEA. In fact, the weight of the union’s reported $45 million in liabilities for employee retirement benefits pulled its net assets into negative territory that year by nearly $1.3 million.
Minnesota unions plan to wage simultaneous strikes
March 8, 2024 // Nearly 10,000 workers from a coalition of separate unions, working for a diverse group of employers, are planning a series of coordinated strikes in Minnesota this week and next. Their aim: Exert leverage at the bargaining table.
St. Paul school district proposes arbitration to settle teacher contract, avert walkout
February 29, 2024 // ASt. Paul Public Schools official said Tuesday that the district would like to pursue binding arbitration with its teachers in an effort to settle a new two-year contract without the disruption of a strike.
After decades of corruption Florida teachers seek new union with integrity
February 25, 2024 // “I noted that the increase in union dues and health care costs were not matched by commensurate salary improvements,” Beightol said. “I began investigating what was going on.” Around the same time, former UTD president Pat Tornillo was arrested for swindling the union out of millions of dollars. Beightol unsuccessfully ran for president of UTD twice, before being expelled for “anti-union” behavior.
Tens of thousands of workers in Florida have just lost their labor unions. More is coming.
February 22, 2024 // The numbers are not being tracked or published by the state or any labor organization, so WLRN requested the records and created a public database to track the fallout of the law. Most affected employees perform core public sector jobs like teaching in schools, doing clerical work for state and local government, repairing engines and machinery for government agencies, answering 911 calls at call centers and working at city parks.
Former Portland teachers union bargaining chair slams actions of union president during strike
February 14, 2024 // Former bargaining chair Steve Lancaster said PAT should've narrowed its proposals during the strike, instead of being unwilling to compromise for months.
Teachers Union Strike in Mass. Amid Statewide Revenue Deficits
February 11, 2024 // Nearly two weeks later, and close to a million dollars in fines incurred by the illegal strike, the NTA and the District finally agreed to a 2.5 percent cost of living adjustment through fiscal year 2025, a 3.25 percent increase by 2026, and a .75 percent increase for 2027—a stepped total of 12.6 percent over four years. According to the NTA, the deal includes “the best parental leave benefits in the state,” with 10 additional paid days by the district. According to Newton officials, however, the deal cost their residents an additional $53 million more than budgeted. In March of 2023, Newton residents voted 53-47 against additional tax increases proposed to cover increased spending. Without the additional tax revenues to fund the union’s demands, Newton city Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, said during negotiations that the city would need to layoff teachers and other city employees, such as police and firefighters, to meet the bargaining demands.
Opinion: School Choice Is the Solution to Teacher Strikes
February 10, 2024 // Last year 17 states expanded or enacted initiatives that make money available directly to parents to spend on alternative schools or educational paths for their children. Such programs work to break education monopolies by opening opportunities to all that are ordinarily reserved for the wealthy. Had parents in Newton had this option, they would have been able to avoid the disruption the strike caused. And the unions would have a weaker incentive to behave disruptively in the first place. A private-sector employer feels the pain of an employee strike because customers can find another place to shop for goods or services. Employees have skin in the game, too, because they risk loss of their paycheck and possibly getting fired. In the public sector, however, the customers—in this case families and children—are the only ones who feel the pain. The teachers get what they want, every time. The result is a vicious circle. Teachers unions periodically hold children’s education hostage in exchange for ransom payments from taxpayers. The unions are never fully held accountable for these disruptions. Nor do they ever allow meaningful change to the system. The Newton Public Schools spend almost $30,000 annually on each student. Families should be able to spend that money any way and anywhere they choose. Public schools would then have an incentive to cater to the needs of the people who pay teachers’ salaries.
St. Paul educators to take strike vote after months without contract
February 8, 2024 // SPFE wants mental health teams better staffed in all district buildings, more money for recruitment and retention, less expensive health insurance, fewer caseloads and more resources for staff working with students who have special needs. Mental health resource issues were also at the forefront of the union's last strike in 2020, as well as in 2022, when members last took a strike vote. A strike was averted that year after both sides reached agreements on mental health support increases, as well as class size caps, guaranteed recess and wage increases for educational assistants.