[B]URLINGTON — After a seven-hour mediated bargaining session Wednesday, the Burlington School Board and its teachers union are still at loggerheads on a new contract.
Mediation began in April after the board declared an impasse in the talks, and now both sides will submit proposals to a mediator by Wednesday. The mediator, Michael Ryan, of the Maine-based firm AAA Education Services, will then issue a nonbinding report within 30 days.
The school district and the Burlington Education Association remain far apart on raises, health benefits and operational changes, the board said in a statement Wednesday.
The district is offering a 3.75 percent pay increase over two years, totaling $2,710 for the average full-time teacher. The union is asking for a 5.28 percent increase in one year, or an increase of $3,745 for the average full-time teacher, according to the school board.
Operational changes being negotiated include issues such as Friday schedules, the length of teacher preparation time built into the school day, and when teachers are notified of their assignments for the following school year.
The two sides reached a one-year agreement in October after 15 months of negotiations and an imposed contract that brought Burlington teachers to the verge of striking. That contract expires Aug. 31.
The current contract increased salaries 2.75 percent without so-called step increases, or additional raises based on seniority. It also increased teacher health care contributions and gives the superintendent more discretion when assigning salaries and dealing with personal days for staff.
It also removed the “middle of the middle” language that had been in a previous contract. That language made the school district keep pace with salaries in surrounding school districts — a sticking point for the board during the protracted negotiations.
In return, teachers received an increase in tuition reimbursement to $170,000, with no requirement to pay it back if the teacher leaves the school district. The board had imposed a reimbursement limit of $80,000 that had to be paid back within three years if a teacher left.
Retiring teachers will also continue to be paid for unused sick days under the current contract.
Gov. Phil Scott is urging school districts to hold off on signing new contracts with their teachers until after a legislative veto session June 21-22 in hopes he can get a law passed calling for statewide teacher health care negotiations.
The governor has said one health insurance plan negotiated for all public school teachers in the state offers the best opportunity for property tax relief through savings that are coming as the plans available for educators become less generous under the Affordable Care Act. Scott’s proposal is for a statewide teacher health care contract to take effect in January.
Legislators have offered competing plans to capture savings while maintaining negotiations at the local level.
“We are proceeding with our full slate of responsibilities as a school board, and are continuing to monitor events in Montpelier as they unfold,” said Stephanie Seguino, the board’s vice chair, in a statement Wednesday.
The Vermont chapter of the National Education Association, of which Burlington’s teachers union is a part, is strongly opposed to Scott’s proposal.
Clarification: The original story referred to Scott’s proposal for statewide teacher contracts; in fact, it is a statewide teachers’ health care contract that he wants.
/
