Contract Talks Begin For CV School District

Central Valley School District and the Central Valley teachers union have begun working on their next contract.

But a pay raise, the issue that the union is most interested in, is likely to be settled in Olympia, not here in the Spokane Valley.

A salary increase is the top priority for teachers, said Jeff Brown, president of the Central Valley Education Association. Any raise is likely to come from the Legislature and the governor, not from the district itself.

Gov. Gary Locke has proposed a 2 percent annual pay raise for the next two years. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson has proposed a 5 percent increase this coming year and about the same increase for the next year.

The Washington Education Association is asking for a 15 percent increase over two years. Salary increases in recent years have not kept pace with inflation.

“We’ve lost buying power to the tune of 15 percent in the last six years,” Brown said. “I have constituents who say if they don’t get relief soon, they’ll have to find other work.”

A recent survey showed that 65 percent of Central Valley’s teachers favored some type of collective action if the Legislature doesn’t approve a significant pay raise. However, only about one-third of the district’s 650 teachers returned that survey.

“We follow exactly the state pay schedule,” said Billie Gehres, head of personnel for Central Valley.

“If a 3 or 4 percent raise came from the Legislature, we would pass that right on to the teachers,” said Jay Walter, head of curriculum for the district and a member of the team of 24 teachers and administrators currently involved with contract negotiations.

In Washington, teacher salaries are set by the state and based on years of experience and amount of education. The teachers union recently surveyed its 650 members to learn what issues they wanted considered for this next contract. More preparatory time for elementary teachers is a common concern, Brown said. They currently have 210 minutes per week to prepare their lessons and do other work. At the same time, high school teachers on Central Valley’s block schedule have 400 minutes of prep time each week.

Increasing the number of elementary counselors so that the district has a full-time counselor at each school is another concern teachers noted. Currently most elementary counselors in Central Valley cover two schools.

Another issue is better support for technology, said Jay Walter, the head of curriculum for the district, who is also leading the district’s collaborations.

“I hear that one all the time, across all lines,” Walter said. Teachers want more training in technology and better maintenance of the hardware.

“The media specialists are frustrated in particular,” Brown said. “They feel like they’re being made responsible for maintenance.”

In all, 17 groups have made presentations to the “team of 24” - the 12 union teachers and 12 administrators and school board members negotiating the new contract - asking for improvements in their pay or other working conditions. Today, the 12 teachers on the team are meeting to decide how to prioritize all of the concerns.

Next week, the team of 24 will hear a presentation on the district’s financial picture so that all parties know what money is available.

In March a core team of 10 people, including one board member, four administrators a school board member and five teachers, will start working on the issues.

Walter and Brown say they hope the contract will be agreed upon by the end of the school year. The current contract ends Aug. 31. Recent contracts have been for two years, although the parties are not bound to that.

Several years ago, the district and union revamped the approach to their negotiations, so as to downplay the adversarial tone. Both Brown and Walter are careful to use the term “problem-solving,” or “collaborative bargaining.”

“People do spend a tremendous amount of time listening and a tremendous amount of time looking at alternatives,” Walter said. “And they really work to come up with a resolution that is better for our employees, as well as for betterment of our kids.”