BY MARK SKERTIC
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Board of Education and its teachers have tentatively agreed to a three-year contract that includes pay raises and introduces major reforms into the district.
''It's a good deal for both sides, but more importantly, it's a good deal for kids,'' said school board President Lynn Marmer.
The union and school administrators agreed to announce the deal after a brief phone conversation between lead negotiators from both sides Tuesday. The call from board attorney Mark Stepaniak to Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Tom Mooney came just a day after talks collapsed because of disagreement over wages.
Details will be announced at a news conference today, then negotiators will meet to finalize some of the contract language. Preliminary contracts have been worked out for the 3,500-member teachers union and the 400-member office worker union.
''We've got a tentative agreement on all major items, but there are still a few loose ends,'' Mr. Stepaniak said. ''This thing ebbed and flowed like the Ohio River used to.''
Mr. Mooney said he was pleased with the deal. ''We've not only made the reform plan very concrete,'' he said, ''we've also improved it a lot.''
The contract would open the door to implement all of ''Students First,'' the school system's strategic plan that calls for teachers to team and stay with the same group of students for several years. ''Students First'' would also give school-based decision teams control over much of their budget.
Points of agreement
Among the reform points agreed to:
Eight schools will become team-based for the 1997-98 school year, with 12 added the following year and 20 more in the third.
Schools will be encouraged to apply, but a system has been set up to designate schools if goals are not met for two consecutive years.
Each team-based school will have an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) made up of teachers (60 percent), parents and the principal.
ILTs and the Local School Decision Making Committees will have the authority to take money earmarked for art, music, physical education specialists or support services such as librarians and divert the money for another instructional use.
Teachers are willing to support the reform effort but will continue to insist other changes are needed in the district, Mr. Mooney said.
''Our concern remains that it has been oversold,'' he said of the strategic plan. ''We think standards, both academic and discipline, remain the cornerstone of real reform.''
The contract provides for about a 2.6 percent raise for teachers and office personnel in the first year and about 3 percent in both 1998 and 1999. Exactly what that will mean for each employee's paycheck is still being calculated.
That's because the additional money the district set aside for pay must also provide for a new mandatory increase in the 27th year of employment. There is also additional pay when teachers attend required training at the Mayerson Academy on their own time.
What it would cost
The contract would cost the district about $3 million the first year, $6 million the second and $9 million in the final year, according to an estimate given to school board members.
Talks broke down Monday night because school board members were worried they couldn't afford the raises, given the potential impact of Gov. George Voinovich's two-year budget proposal.
School administrators had hoped for at least a 3 percent rise annually in state aid, and possibly much more. But under Mr. Voinovich's proposal, Cincinnati would get an increase of just 3 percent over two years.
That came after school officials were told they were also losing $5 million a year the state had given the district for desegregation efforts.
''Part of what happened today was we realized we needed to get this in order, then go up there and work together'' to lobby the state, Mr. Mooney said.
Ms. Marmer agreed. She said she and others in the administration didn't want lawmakers thinking the district was after more state money to help settle the contract.
That's not what we're looking for state money for,'' she said. ''Three percent is a reasonable increase that we had planned for.''
