Teacher contract negotiations start
Clarke Community School Board of Directors are asking teachers to take a cut in their salary for next year to make up for decreased state aid.
This first proposal was presented March 3 to the Clarke Community Education Association during negotiations for the 2010-2011 teacher's master contract.
The education association previously submitted their proposal with a request to add $1,230 to the base salary and $50 a month for insurance.
School officials say with everything in the proposal factored in, this initial request equals an increase of 7.6 percent. Association members say this percentage will decrease to 5.1 percent because representatives incorrectly calculated a few figures, which skewed the end result.
The school's proposed reduction reflects a .75 percent decrease to make up for losing nearly $59,000 in Phase 1 money. This reduction will mean a decrease of $404 in the starting salary and has a cumulative effect on the salary schedule.
This means teachers with more experience will see a bigger impact on their checks.
"It will be slightly more for some," said the school's Business Manager Ruth White. "Anytime you change the base salary, that changes all the steps and lanes."
With the board's first proposal and reduction, the base salary for teachers would be $33,101.
According to estimates from the National Education Association for the 2008-09 school year, Iowa's average teacher salary rose to $48,638. This bumped Iowa's teacher pay ranking from 37th in the nation to 26th. Clarke's average salary for teachers is $45,772.36. The U.S. average was $54,319 for all public school teachers.
Superintendent Ned Cox said he doesn't recall any past proposals that asked teachers to take a pay cut.
"It's probably not happened before," he said. "But the state of Iowa and legislatures have never taken away all the Phase 1 money either. I wish we could still fund it, but there's just not enough money coming in from the state."
Phase I funds were given to districts to raise the minimum starting salary and to attract quality teachers to Iowa’s public school system.
"Every one of those dollars had been salary schedule dedicated," Jeffrey Krausman, the school's employment counselor said. "And every dollar that we lost has to be accounted for."
To make up for budget shortfalls, Krausman said schools have been dipping into their cash reserves. Clarke school's cash reserves have been dwindling each year going from over $2 million in 2006 to an estimated $844,000 in 2009. But this isn't unique to Clarke schools.
"The trend is that districts are eating away any cash reserve they had accumulated over the years," he said.
Other board proposals included amending the contract to add a paragraph that states the school can adjust the salaries of employees if the legislature or governor reduces funding from the amount that is appropriated on May 1. Krausman said the salaries would be adjusted by the same percentage as the reduction the school faces.
"It's very frustrating to negotiate with a number and make commitments to staff and then the governor reduces the funding," he said.
Marvin McCann, a 38-year veteran of the teacher's association, said he isn't too worried about the board's first proposal.
"It's just the bargaining process," he said. "It's a game. We start off with a number that is high and they start off low. It's just a hypothetical number of what is the highest number we would expect and they present the lowest that they would give us."
McCann said he was a little surprised that the board presented a cut in the base salary and doesn't think school employees should have to make up for a budget shortfall.
"The school district has other methods of funding shortfalls in the budget– levy taxes," he said. "It's the responsibility of the community to maintain the school, and it shouldn't be the burden of the employees who happen to work here."
Krausman said the association's proposed increases for insurance and salary will be the big "stumbling blocks" for negotiation.
Last year, the two parties reached an agreement just weeks before the decision went to arbitration.
Board representatives said they don't want it to last that long this year, but expect negotiations will be difficult considering budget constraints.
"It's a little early in the negotiation process to say how things are going," Clarke's School Board President Linda Henry said. "But with the tight budget situation the school district is faced with, the school board is working hard to be fiscally responsible with what we have."
Krausman said one thing is for sure – this year will be a challenge.
"All school districts are facing the toughest budget years I've seen in the more than 30 years I've practiced school law in Iowa," Krausman said. "It'll be a challenge for schools to be a good employer and a wise user of tax dollars all at the same time."
