Alameda Teachers Reject Agreement

Alameda Unified School District teachers voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative contract agreement, the Alameda Education Association (AEA) announced Friday afternoon.

The AEA said in a press release that teachers turned down the agreement by a two-to-one margin during voting on Thursday and through 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The rejected agreement covered the current and 2012-13 academic years. It included:

• A 1.5 percent salary increase for 2012-13, contingent on adequate state funding.

•  A 1 percent, one-time bonus for teachers that ranged between $398 and $799, depending on the teacher’s years of experience."

• Increased K-3 class sizes in the event of a severe fiscal emergency, and changes to high school class sizes.

• "Finally, the parties have reached agreement on collaboration, academic freedom, calendar issues, transfer issues related to magnets and innovative programs and complaints against unit members. In exchange for the Association's agreement to a one-year pilot on collaboration, the District has agreed to maintain the current salary schedule which includes 3 days of professional development, while requiring teachers to work only 2 professional development days," according to the AUSD. Collaboration is a pilot program for the coming year that equals 45 minutes per week for each teacher.

"The district’s miniscule temporary compensation offer was not sufficient to warrant the permanent concessions they demanded," the AEA release said.

The complete tenatative agreement is attached above as a PDF.

“At some point AUSD will have to make teachers a priority and stop presuming that we will be able to continually sacrifice,” said Gray Harris, president of the 524-member AEA.

"AEA is ready to continue through the fact-finding process and will be prepared for whatever it brings."

The release said that "While both sides hope to get back to the bargaining table, leaders of AEA will now explore all options."

The AUSD announced a week ago that negotiating teams representing the district and the AEA reached the tentative agreement after four sessions with an outside mediator.

Negotiations began in early 2011, when the district asked the AEA to revisit the existing agreement on class size and transfers. (The transfer issue was subsequently dropped.)

The talks stalled in November when the district and the teachers' union were unable to reach an agreement on class size maximums for the 2012-13 school year, according to a statement from the district.

Mediation between the district and the AEA with a state-appointed mediator began in December 2011. For a look at the background of the negotiations, see this article.