LOWER LAKE — Local teachers filed for arbitration after the Konocti Unified School District (KUSD) refused to honor its own proposal. Konocti Educators Association (KEA) members say KUSD managers made it clear that they do not support their teachers by failing to honor the agreement reached in good faith.
“To provide the educational environment that our students need and deserve, every teacher must know that they are fully supported by their employer,” said KEA President Robynn Giese. “Enough is enough. Teachers are our students’ most important resource. KUSD managers have stalled, ignored agreements, broken their word and are now refusing to honor their own proposal. Our students deserve better.”
Efforts to reach a settlement failed on June 3. Now the Teachers have no choice but to go to arbitration to protect the salary increase formula in their contract. The whole reason they have a formula to determine salary increases is to prevent labor unrest over what can be a very contentious issue.
“The formula has worked for years and has been run before under the new state funding model, but suddenly it doesn’t work for our new Management. They have the money but don’t want to use it to fulfil their obligation to KEA! Now we demand the district managers do what’s right for students and staff and honor the agreement they are legally bound to uphold,” said Giese.
“Historically, the union has had a good working relationship with district management. Konocti teachers made every attempt to work with district management to come to an agreement throughout the year including accepting a settlement far below what the contract required because of the unsure financial times” noted Giese.
Negotiations started in October 2019 but district managers came unprepared to negotiate anything fiscal at meetings, claiming financial difficulties, that KEA filed a grievance November 1. “District managers assured us that the accounting issues would get cleared up and we could finalize a new contract,” Giese said. That, plus substantial new state funding gave educators hope for a quick settlement.
In January, however district managers refused to honor contract language and after a challenging bargaining meeting, the teachers thought they had an agreement, but district managers did not share with the Lake County Office of Education for approval.
“We waited, without word, which sent us into March with no agreement for our members. When COVID-19 hit and school closed, teachers agreed to help out district managers, accepting a one-time money payout to help with insurance costs. “We agreed, again, fully understanding this settlement was worth about five cents on the dollar compared to the proportionate share calculated by our contract. We understood the difficult moment all schools in California were facing and were willing to make the sacrifice. Unbelievably, before we could get that document signed, district managers rescinded their offer and refused to negotiate any further which left us with no other choice but arbitration..”
“Our negotiations goals are about achieving the best teachers for our students,” Giese said. “Our members are committed to achieving a fair settlement and protecting our contract. Our students deserve better. Our teachers deserve better.”
The Konocti Education Association is affiliated with the 310,000-member California Teachers Association and the 3.2-million-member National Education Association.
