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TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| It took more than a year of negotiations, but Parkrose teachers voted to accept the district's latest offer and get back to teaching. High school teachers Damon Jansen, left, and David Whitfield count teachers' votes. Mid-county Memo photo/Tim Curran |
The three-year deal, retroactive to last year when they began bargaining, is actually a two-year agreement expiring June 30, 2014.
The school board approved the new contract at its May 14 work session.
Parkrose Faculty Association Vice President Jerry Landreth, a teacher at Sacramento Elementary said, “Though the days and nights working on this agreement have been long, we are inspired by our members coming together and standing up for what's important during difficult times. Because of this, as a union, we are stronger.”
Even though negotiations were long and drawn out, Landreth said he does not think there will be a lasting effect and that they can work through the communication issues with the administration.
He said teachers felt overwhelming support from parents and the community during the process. “We got super strong support from the parent community, and the community at large really stepped up and got behind us. We felt empowered by all the support.”
In an email, Parkrose School District Superintendent Karen Fischer Gray said, “The Parkrose School District was glad to approve the new collective bargaining agreement with the certified association. The final agreement represented hours and hours of negotiation time and energy.
“The economics of the package are difficult but we remain hopeful that better economic times are ahead of us, for all of our sakes. We are glad to get a break from the bargaining table for a while in order to catch our breath in a collective sigh of relief. In the end, Parkrose came together as a community to resolve the contract issues and move forward.”
Bob Pratt, the East County Bargaining Council Chair and teacher at the high school said, “It's bittersweet. Over the life of this contract we gave over a million dollars in concessions. No more COLA (cost of living adjustment). The real problem is the lack of revenue coming into education.”
Pratt said most of what the union is doing is trying to hold the line on cuts and mitigate damage to its members. “We have taken approximately a 20 percent cut in staff over the last four years. It is getting to the point where workload is becoming very difficult to deal with because of it.”
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