Jean Manning, bargaining chair of Monterey County Office of Education TA.
Local chapters like Elk Grove and Calexico are settling, while San Francisco is considering going on strike and others are at impasse. Meet a few colleagues among the many who are working hard to enhance your teaching and working conditions and professional compensation.
Jean Manning
Monterey County Office of Education Teachers Association
Time spent before bargaining starts?
Two or three hours before each bargaining session. (As a county office of education unit bargaining chair, she represents special education staff, alternative education teachers, migrant education teachers and Head Start teachers, as well as charter teachers.)
Major issues on the table?
Caseload and class sizes for alternative education teachers, and caseload sizes for charters. Our chapter members provide support to qualifying students in all of the 24 school districts in Monterey County.
What is the best thing local members can do to support their bargaining team?
Attending the chapter meetings and participate. We need more support. We have too few people doing too many tasks.
Gregory Soghoian
Kings Canyon Education Association
Time spent before bargaining starts?
Probably 100 spent on a very thorough review of the contract, line by line, plus surveys, plus keeping my eyes and ears open.
Major issues on the table?
Teacher evaluations, personal leaves, health care costs. We aligned teacher evaluation to the latest California standards. We reached an agreement to provide each member with $2,000 to help with health care costs.
What is the best thing local members can do to support their bargaining team?
Stay involved with the association — it’s a big deal for us. The bargaining team is driven by member concerns. We need to hear from you.
Barry Welsch
Teachers Association of Long Beach
Time spent before bargaining starts?
We’ve been together as a team for ten years so that helps cut down on some of the meeting time and we do a lot by phone. We spend a few hours on budget analysis with our executive director Joe Boyd (CTA staff) and then probably meet for about eight hours before going to the table and for an hour or two before each session.
Major issues on the table?
Health coverage is a huge issue but we’re also going to be dealing with cuts to our Head Start unit; the board voted to do away with the program after next year.
What is the best thing local members can do to support their bargaining team?
TALB members know how important organizing is. Members have to participate and show solidarity and support for the issues. They have before—we had thousands come to rally at the district office around health benefits a few years ago.
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