Thursday, January 27, 2000
CPS vote paves way to contract for teachers
Union leader predicts OK by members
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The board of Cincinnati Public Schools agreed Wednesday night to a third party's recommendations in contract talks with district teachers, likely averting a strike.
Saying they did not want to hamper a working relationship with the district's 3,200 teachers or jeopardize two levies on the March ballot, the board voted 5-2 to accept the proposals. The teachers threatened to strike if contract talks bogged down.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
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The Cincinnati board of education has approved contract recommendations by a state-recommended fact-finder. Among the highlights:
• Salary: CFT wanted 4 percent pay raises annually; administrators proposed a freeze until August, then 2 percent raises for two years. Recommendation; 2 percent increase first year, 3 percent in second and third years.
• Hiring: CPS wanted to abandon requirements they first hire from the district's “surplus pool,” instead hiring the most qualified. The fact-finder rejected this plan, saying it sacrificed critical rights for surplus teachers.
• Charter schools: CFT wanted schools that convert into charter schools to use district teachers. Administrators wanted no such restrictions. The fact-finder recommended no additional safeguards for teachers.
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“Divisiveness would be harmful to the education of our students,” said board member Harriet Russell, who voted to accept the recommendations. Cooperation, among teachers and district leaders, is needed to improve the schools, she said.
The report sided with the union on most issues and recommended a compromise on salary. Union leaders recommended that members support it.
The teachers' contract expired on Dec. 31 but was extended through January.
Members of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers voted Monday to strike if union leaders find that negotiations are moving too slowly. Meanwhile, both sides were to vote on the independent, state-appointed fact-finder's report released last Friday.
With the school board accepting the recommendations, it is now up to the teachers.
The report, which targets 27 unresolved contract issues, will become binding unless the union members reject it by a three-fifths vote. The teachers' vote results should be known by this evening, said Tom Mooney, union president.
“We certainly expect the teachers will approve it,” Mr. Mooney said. Many of the recommendations made by the fact-finding report sided with the union. And the three-fifths vote requirement makes it even tougher for the recommendations to fail, he added.
Although the fact-finder's report ruled against many of the administration's positions — such as salary — Superintendent Steven Adamowski advised the school board to accept the fact-finding report.
“My recommendations to the board were designed to protect our students,” Mr. Adamowski said after Wednesday's vote. “We cannot allow adult agendas to disrupt the education of the children in our community.”
He pointed to two school levies on the ballot in March.
“The impact of a strike creates a situation in which defeat of both levies would be likely. That would spell financial disas ter for the district and draconian cuts in services for students.”
Cincinnati schools are seeking a 6.5-mill levy on the March ballot. Voters will also be asked to combine and renew two current levies totaling about 11.92 mills. The two ballot issues total about $100 million a year.
If the report is not rejected by the teachers' union, contracts will be in place for the next three years, Mr. Adamowski said.
Not all board members were convinced. Lynn Marmer said the findings will hamper efforts to reform the district's schools. Test scores are too low and workplace rules are too antiquated, she said.
“This preserves the status quo,” Ms. Marmer said. Fellow board member Sally Warner said it puts obstacles in the way of true reform. Both board members voted against the report's proposals.
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