CPS offers counterproposal to teachers' union, but no agreement
Friday, February 20, 2015 Columbia Daily Tribune
A counterproposal from Columbia Public Schools negotiators to a team representing the teachers’ union does not include any concessions on salary.
The offer was presented to the negotiating team of the Columbia Missouri National Education Association at the end of Thursday’s collective bargaining session at the CPS administration building.
The proposal did not include any alternative salary proposal.
CPS Deputy Superintendent Dana Clippard, head of the administration team, said the rejection of salary increases in the first counterproposal does not mean the district has formally rejected or accepted anything related to salary. She said the counterproposal does not represent the final word of the administration, as it’s still early in the negotiating process.
The CMNEA team has proposed a 5 percent increase to the base and minimum teacher salaries.
Teachers in their first four years receive the minimum salary, which is $34,353. A 5 percent increase would result in a minimum salary of $36,071.
After their first four years, a formula dependent on the base salary is used to determine teachers’ salaries. It is now $30,514; a 5 percent increase would raise it to $32,040.
The CMNEA proposal also sought compensation for teachers whose salaries were frozen in 2009-10. The 2008-09 salary freeze was lifted last year in collective bargaining.
Susan McClintic, CMNEA president, said Friday the district’s counterproposal did not surprise her.
“We are certainly disheartened” but not surprised, she said. “They’re not going to agree to anything until they know what everything is going to cost.”
Linda Quinley, CPS chief financial officer, presented calculations of how much the CMNEA proposal would cost the district during Thursday’s session. Her calculations determined the increase in salary and benefits would cost the district about $6.55 million, representing an average raise of $4,804 per teacher.
The CMNEA also made proposals about working conditions related to demands on teachers’ time, to protection of planning time and to meetings scheduled beyond the regular school day.
Quinley estimated those proposals would cost about $10.1 million. Members of the CMNEA team did not agree with that estimate.
Mary Grupe, a CMNEA team member, said teachers want building administrators to prioritize teachers’ time.
“We weren't anticipating it as a stream of income for teachers,” Grupe said.
Quinley asked how the proposal should be calculated, to which McClintic responded no calculations are needed.
“We want you to protect this time for teachers,” McClintic said. “We don’t think it should cost anything.”
Quinley said she did not agree that there would be no cost involved in the proposed changes.
The CPS counterproposal did offer alternative language related to planning time, directing building principals to attempt to maximize teacher planning time.
The next collective bargaining session is scheduled for March 2.
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