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By Michael Peacy
It’s hard to read the newspaper or watch the evening news without hearing about the desperate financial straits of school districts. Over and over we hear: “There’s not enough money for a music program,” or “There’s no money for new textbooks.” And we too often hear people misdirect their frustrations at teachers: “Teachers are greedy and don’t care about the budget and no one better touch their insurance benefits.” With all this negativity, it’s no wonder that teachers often are reluctant to dive into the world of contract negotiations. Well, I am willing. I appreciate the fact that so many teachers before me made sacrifices to bargain quality contracts and lay the groundwork for our current negotiations. I am now willing to do my part. At the end of my first year of teaching, a retiring staff member at school asked me to be on the Negotiations Committee to bargain the upcoming teacher contract. At first, I was a little nervous but then decided that I should give it a try. It would be my opportunity to have a say in shaping my future. First off, I want to brag about the wonderful district I teach in. Over the last two years, through conversations with my closest friends who are teachers in other districts, and other teachers whom I’ve had the opportunity to meet, it’s become abundantly clear how good the parental and community support really is here in Grafton. Also, the union and the school board have a good working relationship. When a school board does not respect the teachers and is not willing to work with them, school districts have head-butting gridlock. Does this mean that teachers agree with everything the Grafton School Board does? Not at all, but there appears to be a "respectfully disagree" dialogue as part of the negotiations process. The board historically leaves us to teach without a lot of interference. This is a helpful stance since it maintains positive teacher morale. When teachers are happy, then students benefit. The second thing I’ve noticed is that we have a great negotiating team in place. The groundwork for our respectful and relatively peaceful negotiations was paved by hours of hard work from dedicated teachers over many years. My first time sitting in on the negotiations of our most current contract, I didn’t have a clue as to the process before me. As a new teacher, I was curious to find out how this worked. After all, who was I to be on the team after only one year on the job? Thank goodness, our chief negotiator, Sue Katrosits, was there to run the show. After our first meeting, I was all shades of lost and confused. The district negotiators were throwing out numbers for this, talking about funding for that, and what-in-the-world-do-you-mean-by-"total-package"? I might as well have been at a pharmaceutical convention. I‘m glad the rest of the team understood all the vocabulary. All I kept thinking was, “I just want my insurance left alone and a cost-of-living raise.” I soon learned that contracts are about a lot more than insurance and salaries and retirement; they’re about professional growth and student achievement as well. Contracts are a confusing entity; however, if you’re a teacher you should know the provisions in your contract because a lack of knowledge could result in changes you’re not expecting. Negotiations taught me one thing: be involved in the decisions in your district; otherwise, they’ll be made for you. No, our district is not perfect; we have our share of issues. However, a positive relationship between the school board and the teachers’ union really does contribute to a fantastic workplace. Not only that, but it makes for an outstanding learning community for students as well. Posted May 12, 2006 |
