Discuss the District's Bargaining Proposal

The proposal EUSD management introduced at the School Board meeting on March 11th includes the following:
o A 3% across the board cut in certificated staff salaries
o 5 furlough days, that will create a 2.5% reduction in paychecks
o Another salary cut based on state COLA (more than likely to be decided each year when the state budget is finalized and adopted)
o The permanent addition to the contract of the Thursday early-release schedule district-wide (right now it is an agreement renewed annually based on your feedback)
o Finally, language that affects the full time release EEEA President position
These cuts above do not take into account increases to our benefit premiums (passed onto staff) that we will not know about until annual usage data arrives in August or September. If the insurance consultant that the district chose is unable to save us money, these additional costs will be passed on to employees in January of 2011.

RIF Notices

EUSD has delivered RIF notices (pink slips) to almost 80 teachers in the district. Many of these teachers were taken by surprise by these notices because they have been teaching in the district for almost a decade. Others have been through this process for up to 5 years in a row. This is a forum for a discussion of this action taken by district management. Please be respectful of the opinions of others.

District's Proposed Cuts

The District has included the following in its three year budget projections: for 2010-2011- the layoff of 77 certificated staff, 5 furlough days and a 3% salary take back. For the following two years (2011-2013) they are planning for 5 furlough days and a total of 5% in salary take backs. This amounts to a 5.5% cut in salaries for 2010-2011, and a 7.5% cut for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 for all employees. None of these proposed numbers factor in possible increases in our health benefits that are passed on to employees in January of each of the next several years.

Any salary and benefits changes have to be negotiated and agreed to by a majority of certificated staff. Please use this forum to discuss your thoughts, ideas, and comments with each other. In addition, please be respectful of opinions that may differ from your own.