By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Cincinnati school board rejected a tentative teachers contract Friday, putting an adversarial twist on a process that has been quietly progressing for more than two months.

The board voted 4-3 against the agreement.

Superintendent Alton Frailey and several board members voiced disappointment that the proposed contract didn't commit to pay teachers on their teaching performance instead of seniority.

But Cincinnati Federation of Teachers union representatives say the board never raised the subject during months of negotiations.

Last week, representatives of the board and teachers union settled on the tentative agreement, which called for a 3.2 percent pay increase this year for the district's 3,500 teachers, librarians, counselors, nurses, psychologists and counselors.

Yet Frailey and some board members said they were uninformed about the final details of the proposal when it was announced an agreement had been reached.

"The reason I recommended that we not accept this agreement is because this is not the agreement I authorized to be released as a tentative agreement," Frailey said.

"I don't want anyone to misconstrue this as my being against some things the (union) finds as improvements. I just don't feel my interests were represented."

Frailey said he also was disappointed the proposed contract included details of an employee severance plan, which he said the board didn't approve. The district administration was considering a severance plan, he said, but details weren't ready.

Sue Taylor, the union president, said her group is shocked the agreement failed.

"It is irresponsible and reckless to claim that the (district) administration sent their own team to the table to negotiate a tentative agreement and then failed to support their team's work," Taylor said. "Are we to believe that the superintendent was really asleep at the wheel when he should have been providing direction to his own team?''

Despite the board vote, teachers continued voting on the agreement Friday. Final results are expected today.

Even if the teachers approve the tentative contract, the two sides must decide whether to continue negotiating. Either side could decide to use an independent fact finder to make recommendations on disputed sections of the proposal.

No talk of strike has been mentioned. The union said it will outline its options during a press conference Monday.

In December 2002, the union voted to extend its contract for a year. That agreement expired Dec. 31 and teachers are now working on a day-to-day contract extension.

Board member and former governor Jack Gilligan said the late rejection of the agreement counters the whole concept of collective bargaining.

"I have been directly or indirectly involved in negotiations or labor contracts in the public arena for 40 years and I have never seen one quite like this one," Gilligan said. "(Frailey) says they didn't understand all the positions. Why not? He's the boss. They're his employees."

Board member Rick Williams, who supports paying teachers on ability - not seniority - said there he could not support the tentative agreement. He said he wants a contract that will help raise student achievement in the 38,800-student district, which is considered in "academic emergency" by the state.

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E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com