School board, union differ on whether concessions might have spared some teachers their job
When the Goodrich school board voted late last month to lay off 14 teachers, board members blamed the layoffs and subsequent increase in class sizes, in part, on the Goodrich Education Association’s refusal to make any wage concessions.
The GEA has countered that the layoffs would have occurred no matter what, so they felt unmoved to agree to any concessions that might help the struggling school district save money.
Which side is telling the full truth is open to debate, but two things remain beyond dispute.
First, the union’s unwillingness to offer any give backs will make it far more difficult for the district to recall any of the 14 teachers who have been laid off. Worse, other teaching positions may be jeopardized by the lack of concessions.
“(Wage concessions) would assist our budget long term to potentially bring back people sooner,” Goodrich Superintendent John Fazer told the Flint Journal.
The other indisputable fact is that the GEA has a contract full of expensive goodies.
Employees are provided with pricey, union-owned MESSA insurance. Employees had been making a nominal monthly contribution toward their insurance costs, but according to a signed agreement from December 2010, there would be “$0 employee contribution effective February 1, 2011.”
GEA members also operate under a salary schedule that gives raises for each year of service and for advanced education, regardless of their classroom effectiveness. “Step” raises seem to give way to “longevity” bonuses beginning with an employee’s 12th year of service. Bonuses are also given at years 15, 20 and 25.
Employees are given additional earning opportunities for lunch supervision, student supervision and hourly substituting. There are also numerous “extra duty” positions that, during the 2008-09 school year, paid anywhere from $363 to $6,173. (We did not find more recent numbers during a brief examination of the contract and subsequent updates.)
Employees are also given 12 sick and personal days each school year, and can receive $35 for each unused sick day upon retirement. We did not find any cap limiting the size of these payouts.
Our brief examination of GEA’s contract reveals a district that has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The fact that the union is unwilling to offer any concessions means the Goodrich schools will continue to struggle financially, which may lead to more layoffs.
We believe the adult school employees should be willing to make sacrifices, instead of foisting them upon the students in the form of increased class sizes and, possibly, reduced academic offerings.
The GEA has behaved in a selfish manner, and the Goodrich community will suffer as a result.
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