As you are most likely aware, on Jan. 10, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency for our state. All information we have received so far indicates that the state budget, including the K-12 education, will endure drastic reductions in 2008-09 fiscal year. It is with that backdrop, that the district and teachers” union meet with the state-appointed mediator on Jan. 24, 2008, to try to resolve negotiations issues. The mediator was assigned by the state when the union unilaterally declared an Impasse after presenting only one proposal and receiving only one response.
The only proposal the district has made included adding the current amount paid by the district for health benefits ($14,630) to the salary schedule and increasing the resulting compensation package by 2 percent over the next six months as well as a guarantee that the cost of living adjustment (COLA) received by the district during 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 would be applied to the employee compensation package.
Also, the district offered to pay both employer and employee share of retirement contributions and Medicare taxes for the amount mentioned above, resulting in a life-time increase in the monthly retirement allowance for any teacher retiring on or after June 30, 2009. For a teacher retiring at age 60 with 30 years of experience, the increase is estimated at a minimum of $731.50 per month for the first year of retirement. This additional retirement allowance will be adjusted upward for inflation every year thereafter.
The rising cost of medical insurance has made it virtually impossible for the district to continue to fund fully-paid medical benefits and provide increase in compensation our teachers” union demands. The funding we receive from the state is limited and it has not kept pace with the sky-rocketing cost of medical insurance. Additionally, the fact cannot be ignored that the salaries and benefits are paid from the same funds and there is no new, known or potential, sources of funding available to pay for the increased cost of medical benefits and simultaneous increases in the salaries.
In the 2005-06 school year, Konocti Unified School District spent $3.5 million on employee medical insurance programs. In 2006-07, that cost had risen to approximately $4 million, an increase of 13.4 percent. The cost has further increased by 12.5 percent in the 2007-08 school year, making the cumulative increase over two years to almost 26 percent. Simply put, if these funds had been applied to the current salary schedule, they would have resulted in 5.68 percent increase. Please note that this amount has already been provided and applied to employee compensation. Thus any claims that the district has not increased spending on employee compensation in 2006-07 and/or the current year are simply incorrect.
We believe that the district”s offer outlined above is reasonable and fair. The district made that offer at a considerable risk since the district budget for 2007-08 fiscal year already contains deficit spending while the state budget situation continues to deteriorate and the K-12 educational funding becomes increasingly uncertain. This offer brings the compensation package of the teachers in Konocti to above the average of compensation packages paid to the teachers in the county. It also provides on-going annual compensation increases eliminating the need of any adversarial negotiations until 2011.
We are very interested in developing and maintaining excellent professional relationships with our employees and providing increases in compensation as much as the district can afford. However, we are also committed to not sacrificing the learning opportunities for our students any more than may already be required by the final state budget for 2008-2009. We are hoping that our employees will also share our vision and goal of reaching agreement on a fair compensation package without adversely effecting the education of our children.
Editor”s Note: The Konocti Unified School District Board of Trustees is made up of President Herb Gura, Clerk Anita Gordon and trustees Carolynn Jarrett, Hank Montgomery and Mary Silva.
