With dozens of teachers’ jobs at stake if school trustees chose
to boost class sizes, the teachers union is working to negotiate
several non-monetary items in their contract and save the district
money at the same time.
With dozens of teachers’ jobs on the chopping block, the teachers union is looking for ways to boost their contract and save the district money.
After escaping layoffs for the current school year, teachers are bracing themselves for unpleasant news next year, Gilroy Teachers Association President Michelle Nelson said.
“I am anticipating layoffs for next year,” Nelson said. “We’re hoping for the best and preparing ourselves for the worst.”
Currently, the district receives $1,071 from the state for every kindergarten through third grade student enrolled in a class of 20 students or fewer. Reorganizing those nearly 3,500 students into classes of 25 could help the district cut 35 teaching positions. Boosting the class sizes to 30 students would slash nearly 60 positions. Using a low figure for annual teacher compensation of $40,000, those 60 cuts could mean more than $2.4 million in district savings.
With the state faces a current budget shortfall of about $21 million, the district is looking at a budget gap of anywhere from $1.5 to 4.5 million next year, Deputy Superintendent of Business Services Enrique Palacios said.
“When we have those kinds of numbers, there’s no money, absolutely no money,” he said. The “only way” to stay out of the red is “to cut people,” he said.
The number of positions eliminated depends on upcoming board decisions, he said. Trustees have, however, hinted in the past at eliminating small class sizes at the lower grades.
While the district holds its breath waiting for more certain numbers from the state, Nelson is working to negotiate a contract without too many monetary impacts. Even though salaries are “always on the table,” the teachers union is asking the district to take a closer look at several items that don’t have the same level of fiscal impact, including the terms surrounding after-school programs and the district’s early college academy, technology, the district’s student assessment measure, the school calendar, class sizes, benefits and co-teaching.
Although the union and district haven’t broached the topics of after-school programs and the Dr. T.J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy, Nelson said teachers simply want to firm up the duties expected from those teachers.
Solidifying next year’s school calendar is another non-monetary item that needs more attention, Nelson said.
As for technology, teachers want to make sure that updating School Loop, a Web site each school has to communicate with students and parents, is not mandatory. Additionally, teachers want to be able to access information on the Internet for lectures or class projects that is sometimes blocked because of the district’s Internet use policy.
One of the most hotly contested topics, as exemplified by a line of teachers who took to the microphone at a recent board meeting, is the district’s student assessment measure. Earlier this year, the school board approved a $26,190 contract with Intel-Assess to access that company’s Web-based student assessments. After surveying teachers, Nelson concluded that most teachers do not like the assessment, which is supposed to be administered every week, she said.
“If the district doesn’t have enough money to give us more toward benefits, why are they spending tens of thousands on this program?” she said.
Nelson said the books the district recently adopted have adequate tests incorporated into the lessons. Scrapping the contract with Intel-Assess will save $26,000 annually in the future.
“The district is listening,” she said. “We’re all after the same thing – what is the best test for the money? We shouldn’t have to pay an arm and a leg when you can just get it for an arm.”
Keeping class sizes low and boosting teacher benefits are two of the more costly sticking points.
“We’d like to have limits,” Nelson said of growing class sizes.
The only grades that have firm limits in the teachers’ contract is in fourth and fifth grades. If the district adds a 33rd student to one of those classrooms, it owes that teacher an extra day’s pay per quarter, Nelson said. The district can’t add a 35th student to a class unless that teacher gives his or her permission.
“When you get past 35, it gets a little hairy,” said Nelson, adding that some instructors teach as many as 40 students at a time. “We think 32 is a reasonable number.”
Teachers also wants better health benefits. Historically, the district has been low in terms of salary but “middle-of-the-road” when it comes to benefits, Nelson said.
“We don’t want to lose ground,” she said. “Because we have trouble attracting people because of low salaries, one of the reasons (prospective teachers) like Gilroy is because our benefits aren’t bad.”
The union has requested the district kick in about $42,000 toward reducing teachers’ out-of-pocket expenses, which increased 165 percent this year for the Kaiser plan, Nelson said. The district and union will continue their discussions on this matter at upcoming negotiations.
Finally, the union and district are taking a closer look at co-teaching, a practice piloted at Christopher High School this year. True co-teaching – when general and special education teachers split duties with the intent of integrating special education students into the general population – is “too expensive” when considering the extra time and effort that goes into preparing for class, Nelson said. If the model being piloted at CHS goes districtwide, “there’s no way we could afford it,” she said. If the district adopts a less costly model, Nelson said teachers want the duties of each teacher written into the contract.
