Collier teachers ask board to overturn salary dispute ruling
By KATHERINE LEWIS (Contact) March 19, 2008
Collier County teachers will ask the Collier County School Board to overturn a special magistrate’s ruling concerning the group’s salary dispute.
The Collier County Education Association, which represents 80 percent of the district’s teachers, held a vote to determine if its members wanted to pursue the salary dispute.
Jonathan Tuttle, executive director of the CCEA, said teachers had about a week to vote and 70 percent of the members voted. He said 1,387 teachers voted to reject the special magistrate’s decision. Another 216 voted to accept it.
“I am very proud of our teachers,” Tuttle said. “They are not going to roll over and accept something that is wrong.
A state magistrate ruled that the Collier County School District’s salary offer of a 2 percent step increase and a 1 percent bonus was all that was economically feasible this year.
The district and the union had 20 days to either accept or reject the ruling. If either party rejects the ruling, the rejection must be sent in writing to the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission. Once the ruling is rejected, the Collier School Board must conduct a public hearing and make a decision.
Superintendent Dennis Thompson said earlier this month the district wouldn’t file a rejection with the magistrate.
School Board Attorney Richard Withers said the district had been notified Wednesday of the union’s decision. He said Thompson has 10 days from the date of the union’s response to notify the Collier County School Board that it must resolve the impasse.
The magistrate met with both sides in January, after the district and the union reached could not agree on salary increases in November. Because public sector employees cannot strike in Florida, they must declare an impasse and have a magistrate issue a finding of fact on the dispute.
The Collier County School District offered teachers and other contract employees a 1 percent bonus on top of the 2 percent salary increase, which is based on years of experience, that was given in September by the Collier County School Board.
The bonus is part of a $5.69 million compensation package for teachers. That package included $3.6 million in step increases; $1.8 million for the 1 percent bonus; $175,000 in middle school athletic supplements; $42,000 in increased compensation for class coverage; and $35,000 in Webmaster supplement increases.
District officials told employees they wanted to give more, but cited several reasons for the offer, including that the district returned $4.9 million to the state as a result of the state’s general revenue shortfall.
In addition, the district experienced declining enrollment this year and returned more than $5 million for planned enrollment increases that never materialized in Collier.
Two weeks ago, the School Board voted unanimously to tap into its reserves to help fund an additional $4 million that it will return to the state as a result of the budget shortfall.
“From the evidence presented to me, the odds of getting a better salary offer than the one now offered to the CCEA were much better 12 months ago,” wrote Special Magistrate James Brady, who presided over the hearing between the district and the teachers.
Brady wrote in his opinion that he was also impressed with Thompson’s initiative in getting board approval of the 2 percent, which was the union’s first priority on the salary issue.
Withers said though the School Board’s hearing will be open to the public, the hearing will run much like a court proceeding and the public will not be allowed to comment.
Withers has said that the board is generally obligated to accept the magistrate’s decision, but can overturn the ruling if they feel the magistrate has issued an erroneous decision or something that violates the law.
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Hundreds of Collier teachers protest at Rally for Raises
By KELLY FARRELL, Daily News Correspondent
Originally published 05:47 p.m., November 10, 2007
Picket signs bobbed up and down across the field at the Golden Gate Community Center on Saturday as hundreds of Collier teachers “rallied for their raises” at an event organized by the Collier County Education Association.
Jonathan Tuttle, executive director of the CCEA teachers’ union, planned the Rally for Raises before a bargaining meeting Thursday saw the Collier County School Board’s negotiating unit offer a one-time, one percent stipend.
The union’s bargaining unit rejected the offer and an impasse was declared.
Impasse leads to bringing in special masters to review the issue. Either way, the Collier County School Board has the final decision of agreeing or disagreeing with the special masters.
“We thought it would be bad, but we didn’t think the offer would be this bad,’’ Tuttle said. “Sure some teachers have already received their steps (increase based on extra year’s experience), but no one is getting a raise. They offered a 1 percent salary bonus.”
The step increases average $1,200, which some teachers were granted for reaching a specific number of years within the district. For example, a first-year teacher, excluding teaching experience outside the district, starts at about $39,000 with a bachelor’s degree.
With the current offer, second- and third-year teachers who aren’t yet eligible for step increases will receive a bonus check for about $390.
“There isn’t a single bonus check that will cover the cost of the gas increases,” Tuttle said.
After Thursday’s session, a member of the district’s bargaining team noted that the 1 percent is on top of the raises already received and explained the financial constraints being placed on the education system by the state.
District officials said they have to return $4.9 million to the state as a result of the state’s general revenue shortfall. In addition, they said the district experienced declining enrollment this year and will have to give back $1.35 million for anticipated students not actually enrolled in local schools.
Linda McDonald, a Golden Gate Middle School teacher with 23 years as a Collier County teacher and who is running for the state Legislature, was among those critical of the district’s offer.
“This offer was an insult more than a real offer,” McDonald said.
Many of the teachers at the rally expressed the same feelings, calling the offer from the district’s bargaining unit a “slap in the face.”
East Naples Middle School teacher Dottie Hendershot wore a sign on her back that read “Go ahead kick me again.”
Hendershot has taught at Collier County schools for 23 years and in the Northeast for “too many years to share” without showing her age.
On the step scale, Hendershot said she is “maxed out” at about $60,000 per year. Her bonus for $668 under the district bargaining unit’s offer is “discouraging,” she said.
In addition to the sign on her back, Hendershot carried a sign that read: “I care about your children. Do you care about me?”
There were at least 300 teachers present at the rally as well as hundreds more family members, students, teachers from Lee and Charlotte counties and retired teachers showing their support wearing “No teacher left behind” pins.
The Naples Bears cheerleaders from Sabal Palm Elementary, Corkscrew Elementary and Corkscrew Middle School made a cheerleading skit for the teachers to show their support.
“The teachers are here and they’re ready for a raise. Give them what they want and they’ll give you praise,” chanted the cheerleaders, ages 9 to 11.
Migo the Clown, played by Sabal Palm Elementary School physical education teacher Miguel Font, entertained the children with balloons and jokes, while his son, Matias Font, 10, juggled.
Hot dogs, hamburgers and refreshments were served as the bluegrass band Mudbone played from the bandshell. Children played in the bounce house and enjoyed magic shows, while teachers discussed what to do next in order to get a raise.
First, teachers plan to picket the next School Board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Administration Center in North Naples.
Then the next initiative, “Work to Rule!” is set to begin Monday, Nov. 19, when teachers will do only what is clearly outlined in their contracts.
The plan is for all teachers to start on time and not a minute earlier, meeting in the parking lot and walking in together and leaving not a minute later than their scheduled time at the end of the day. Volunteer work and substituting for absent co-workers would cease.
“I really care about the kids. If you do, this is difficult,” said Julie Sprague, a physical education teacher at Gulf Coast High School.
Sprague, who has been teaching for 30 years, added that the “insulting offer will make it a little easier” for teachers to adjust their conduct.
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