Teachers, district close to deal

PALMER -- The specter of upcoming budget cuts and the frayed emotions of a long, often bitter teacher's contract negotiation hung in the air at Wednesday's Mat-Su Borough School Board meeting at Palmer High School. At the end of a long night, however it appeared a deal between teachers and the district was close at hand.

Following a late night executive session, the school board empowered the district's bargaining team to accept a two-year deal based upon an arbitrator's report received in December. According to district spokesperson Kim Floyd, a call between the two bargaining bodies Thursday morning set the groundwork for a deal that could be ratified as soon as Feb. 4. The Mat-Su Education Association team had already announced its desire to accept the arbitrator's report, and if it ratifies that decision prior to the Feb. 4 school board meeting, Floyd said the board is prepared to ratify it as well. Essentially, according to to Floyd, the terms of the agreement are set, but the language will have to be worked out. The sometimes emotional meeting may have signaled the end of a strenuous bargaining process that sent ripples of disgust and mistrust throughout the Valley.

A large crowd packed into the board room Wednesday night, with many more listening to the proceedings over the sound system in the school's cafeteria. "It's the first meeting of the year," board member Robert Johnson said at one point, "and it's nice to have a lot of people here -- a lot of people it seems like I don't see except when we don't have a contract. If this many people were to show up in Juneau [our legislators] might have a little bit different opinion of what the Valley thinks they should do."

The statement came near the end of the proceedings, and it may have summed up the frustrations and concerns on both sides of the negotiation between the administration and MSEA, the union representing teachers. Several hundred teachers attended Wednesday's meeting to demonstrate the union's resolve to sign a two-year deal based upon the recently completed mediator's report. The battle for the new contract has raged on for nearly two years, with teachers working without a contract for the last seven months. The two primary obstacles have been about teacher pay increases and health care contributions.

Two rounds of public comment were injected between normal board business, and while the board is not allowed respond directly during the comment periods, the format essentially amounted to an encapsulated view of the ongoing debate. Board members and administrators discussed the challenges of a shrinking budget they say has already been stretched too far, and teachers urged the board to approve a deal that would allow for pay increases and would help relieve some of the stress of increasing employee health care contributions.

"We've worked seven months without a contract," said Linda Holler from Wasilla High School. "It's time to settle. It's time to work together."

"There are two essential parts to a school," Andrea Messenger said, "someone to learn and someone to teach. Everyone who works in this district does so to support those two groups. This upside-down situation has to end. Sign the contract. Put this acrimony behind us -- now."

Many of the teachers and union representatives who testified said they were not particularly happy with the arbitrator's recommendations, but they were ready to accept them in order to get a contract signed and to get back to the business of education.

Linda Wick told the board, "Stop blaming the teachers for the economic woes of this community." She urged board members to get on with the other work they have to do -- like finding funds to improve safety, pay teachers and fund programs.

Later in the meeting board member Dan Contini addressed that issue specifically. "One speaker said, 'You need to find funding.' Well, I'm not sure where we're going to find it at. The state doesn't want to give it to us, the federal government doesn't want to give it to us, and the borough won't give it to us. And then we're supposed to lobby for all this money. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be lobbying for it."

Contini may have hit on the one point upon which both sides seem to agree. The real problem facing school districts is a lack of funding from Juneau and Washington D.C. Members on both sides of the debate expressed a desire to get the rancor behind them so both sides could work together to solve that funding problem.

For the time being, however, the lack of funding will continue to bring cuts to programs and staffing, according to the administration.

Bob Doyle, the district's chief administrator, did not give details about the next round of budget cuts to be announced Feb. 18, but he offered some clues that sent groans and grumbles through the gathered crowd. At one point Doyle said he'd prepared a list of potential cuts for the board that didn't include cuts the board refused to accept last year. Johnson said those cuts should probably be brought back up for consideration.

"Yes," said board president Mike Chmielewski. "Nothing is safe."

According to Doyle, that even means jobs. He suggested that lay-offs will likely to be part of the equation, and many programs will also fall under the ax of budget cuts. Already, co-curricular sports have been put on hold unless approved by Doyle.

While other regular business managed to weave into the discussion, the district's budget woes, and the need to settle a labor contract that could turn a $5 million deficit into an $8 million shortfall dominated the evening.