NTA Negotiations Update #7 2019-2020

From the Newark Unified School District:

November 13, 2019

NTA Negotiations Update #7 2019-2020

MAJOR “COST ITEMS” REMAIN TO BE RESOLVED INCLUDING SALARY, CLASS SIZE; CONSTRUCTIVE, RATIONAL CONVERSATIONS REQUIRED TO REACH AGREEMENT

NTA Maintains Most Of Its Original Proposals In Cost Areas: Demands 10% Raise Over Three Years and Hard Class Size Caps

NUSD AND NTA CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS AND REACH AGREEMENT ON WORK YEAR AND NEW SPECIAL EDUCATION ARTICLE Joint Special Education Subcommittee Will Continue To Address Issues

This is Newark Unified School District’s (NUSD) seventh Negotiations Update for 2019-2020 contract negotiations between the District and the Newark Teachers Association (NTA). The District will distribute the Negotiations Update after meetings with NTA to inform our community on the progress of negotiations.

Agreements Reached on Most “Language Articles”

Bargaining teams for NUSD and NTA held their seventh negotiations session for the 2019- 2020 school year on November 6, 2019. The parties continued to make progress and have now reached tentative agreement on almost all “language articles” that were opened by each party.

Major “Cost Items Including Salary and Class Size Remain to be Resolved; Constructive, Rational Conversations Will Be Required to Reach Agreement Articles remaining to be resolved involve major “cost items” including salary and class size. Attacking these issues will require hard work and constructive conversations in a forthright and rational manner, rather than hyperbole and rhetoric which serve only to muddy the facts and detract from good faith attempts by both parties to reach an agreement.

The District team remains confident these outstanding issues can and will be resolved based on the level of candor and trust that has been established at the bargaining table and hopes this level of respectful listening and discussion will prevail outside the negotiations room.

Highlights of the meeting, by subject area, are as follows:

Compensation – NTA Maintains Most Of Its Original Salary Proposal; Demands 10% Raise Over Three Years: NTA maintained most of its original compensation proposal including a proposed 10% increase over the next three years (3% 2019-2020; 3% 2020- 2021; and 4% 2021-2022). When asked what “message” it was trying to communicate by maintaining the same proposal, NTA’s response included:

• Compensation is the “#1 priority for unit members among all the other proposals, including class ”
• The District needs to reevaluate and change the way it spends the money it has, and it is “just a matter of priorities” that prevents granting the requested 10% salary increase.
• The District spends too much on “consultants.” Further discussion revealed that the bulk of this spending is probably due to the need to hire special education personnel to meet state and federal
• The District is overstating its annual costs of teachers moving on the salary schedule (“Step and Column”).

NTA stated it “could not take a zero” to its members. The District stated it understood this. NTA noted that although it kept its 10% salary proposal, “there is room for negotiations.”

Note: the District has not proposed a “zero increase.”

See the District’s full proposal in Negotiations Update #6, 10/22/19.

Class Size: NTA made some incremental changes to its class size proposal, e.g., in areas such as how many days could pass at the beginning of the year until class size maximums apply, and increasing new “hard caps” by a few students (to a number still below current maximums). NTA maintained its “overage” payment proposals which are significantly higher and more expensive than current contract.

NTA maintained its proposal to remove current Board authority to adjust TK-3 class sizes at the beginning of each year and also proposed a cap of 24 students in each TK-3 classroom. The District pointed out that such a cap would be more rigid and restrictive than the 24:1 class size average across grades TK-3 by site provided under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) applicable to all districts.

NTA also maintained all of its prior proposals establishing student to adult ratios and class size maximums in areas related to special education. When asked, NTA acknowledged these ratios etc. do not reflect current practice or staffing patterns and would, if implemented, require increased expenditures for more staff.

Tentative Agreements (TA) Reached:

• Work Year: The parties signed a TA which retains, for the time being, the 186 day basic work year comprised of 180 student days, 3 teacher work days and 3 staff development days (see note below). The Article also contains new language specifying that “Unit member attendance on all work days is equally mandatory regardless of ”

Note: Following the negotiations session, the District notified NTA in writing that, although the parties reached agreement on Article 6 (Work Year) with the status quo language on the standard work year including three professional development days, the District’s position is that this does not preclude the District from making proposals that impact whether and how these days are offered within the context of proposals made under Article 13 (Compensation).

• Special Education – New Contact Article and MOU: The parties agreed to add a new article to the contract at NTA’s request to address issues of mutual interest regarding special education services provided by unit

The parties also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a “Joint Negotiations Subcommittee on Special Education” to address about 20 other subjects of interest in this area raised in NTA’s proposal. This Subcommittee will make recommendation back to the bargaining team for potential inclusion of additional language in the contract.

Other Articles to be Resolved:

• Work Day: The only remaining issue concerns teacher directed preparation and planning time and PLC/collaboration activities on minimum Fridays. The District’s first counterproposal offered to increase the amount of teacher directed prep time on a temporary basis for the next two years. NTA’s response was close to the District’s proposal, but would change the contract permanently. The District’s final proposal agreed to change the contract permanently, and the parties are close to resolving the allocation of “Friday time” between teachers directed preparation and planning and PLC/collaboration activities.

• Leaves: NTA’s “new” proposal was identical to its prior proposal made on September 4, 2019 except for removal of a change it had made to address the District’s concern about employee absences on professional development (PD) days. Instead, NTA asserted the District should change the way it schedules PD days to encourage unit member attendance, rather than proposing language attempting to hold unit members accountable for choosing not to attend these paid work days through use of personal necessity

NTA Requests More Bargaining Dates; Prefers to Wait Until Next Year: NTA stated that, based on teachers’ schedules and impending holiday breaks, it made sense to schedule additional sessions after the new year. The District agreed to NTA’s request and scheduled 2 more dates each in January and February 2020.

NEXT STEPS: Negotiations will resume on January 14, 2020.

This press release was produced by the Newark Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.