CdA teachers, district head to mediation over stalled contract talks

Four weeks into the school year, Coeur d’Alene teachers are working without a new contract and will head into mediation with school district leaders today to try to end a deadlock.

Negotiations stalled in late August over the Coeur d’Alene School District’s proposal to keep base pay the same while shifting a greater share of rising health insurance costs to employees. The district’s health insurance plan is increasing 7.5 percent this year, or about $500,000.

The school district now pays 69 percent of the premium for family health coverage, which is “very high compared to the rest of the state,” Superintendent Matt Handelman said.

The district proposes reducing its share to 67 percent, leaving employees to cover the rest. The district also wants employees to pick up more out-of-pocket expenses, including co-insurance and co-pays.

“We’d love to keep benefits for everyone, but realistically, as skyrocketing costs happen, it’s not sustainable,” Handelman said.

The Coeur d’Alene Education Association, the union representing 565 teachers, is pushing back with a proposal to raise salaries 0.9 percent and leave insurance contribution levels unchanged.

“It’s very difficult for the employees to take a benefit hit without some kind of compensation on the other side,” said association President Derek Kohles, who teaches English at Lake City High School. “When you cut insurance, you put people at risk for going backward pretty significantly.”

Until both sides agree on a new contract, teachers and all other employees are working with no change in their insurance plans. But because premiums have gone up, take-home pay has declined a bit for many employees.

Both sides will meet separately with a federal mediator starting today to try to break through the impasse. If that doesn’t work, “The state law is silent on what happens next,” Handelman said.

District employees received a 2.5 percent raise last year – the first change in base pay in about six years. During that same period, they’ve taken on a greater share of insurance costs. The stagnation of base pay has been especially rough on veteran teachers – about 23 percent of certified employees – who are topped out in pay brackets based on experience and training, Kohles said.

“They’ve been taking cuts in insurance for six years straight. That is a pay cut,” he said.

The district pays all of the premiums for employees on single coverage and those who insure themselves and one child. But those who cover a spouse or multiple family members certainly are feeling the pain of higher insurance costs, Kohles said.

“The people that are most at risk are families and anybody that doesn’t have the district cover all of their insurance costs,” he said.

The district admits some employees who want to keep their same benefits will see a bigger bite out of their paycheck, Handelman said. But many teachers will be able to cover it with built-in pay bumps known as steps and lanes, he said. For their first 17 years, teachers step up in pay annually, and they also can earn more through “education lanes,” which reward graduate credits and advanced degrees.

A teacher in the middle of the salary scale who qualifies for a step and a lane advance will earn an additional $3,836 this year, and the most that employee would pay in additional health insurance costs is $453 for the year, according to a district analysis.

“Even if you just get a step or just get a lane, it will more than cover the maximum amount,” Handelman said.

A major point of contention in negotiations is how much step and lane increases will cost this year. The district calculates it’s about $700,000; teachers figure it will cost less than half that, leaving more money to cover higher premiums or boost base pay.

Kohles also points out there are other insurance changes that will eat into family budgets. The district, for instance, proposes having employees pay 30 percent of medical costs after a deductible is met, up from 20 percent.

“Their insurance costs, if they go to the doctor, will be significantly higher,” he said.

Although the union negotiates only for the teachers, the district extends base pay and insurance changes to all 1,250 employees, including administrators and classified employees such as secretaries, bus drivers and custodians.

Benefits are a key part of overall compensation for those lower-wage classified workers, and benefit cuts harm them far more than others, Kohles said.

“The more we reduce benefits, the more we will lose classified personnel,” he said.

Even with the cuts, the district’s benefits package will remain one of the more attractive among Idaho school districts, Handelman said. But district funds alone can’t absorb ever-increasing costs, he said.

“These rates have gone up and gone up and gone up. It’s not just here. It’s everywhere,” he said. “It would hurt employees if we’re not fiscally sound.”

Kohler said teachers in recent years agreed to pay freezes and benefit cuts, in part, to help the district build its reserves to a healthy level. That has happened, and now it’s time for the district to recognize the sacrifices employees made and start to restore what they’ve lost, he said.

“We have an improving economy, we have additional money coming into the district,” he said.