Holding signs and calling for a fair settlement, members of the Grant District Education Association/CTA/NEA will mass from 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Monday, March 4, outside a district-teachers association contract mediation session to press the Grant Union High School District to give teachers a new offer immediately.
The teachers, wearing yellow union "t" shirts and carrying signs, will take up positions at 4:30 p.m. Monday outside their own association offices - 5959 Greenback Lane, Suite 470 (near (Greenback and Auburn off I-80)-to cheer their bargaining team as it meets inside with district officials and a state mediator.
(Desks note: GDEA President John Ennis will be leading the group and will be available to talk with reporters and crews during the course of the event.)
The teachers are demanding that the district reorder its priorities to make the classroom, students, and teachers its top funding priority.
"District Superintendent Larry Buchanan and his official spokespersons have been saying they can't afford to offer teachers a fair raise, " says John Ennis GDEA President. "Grant's students have been losing experienced teachers, who are leaving for higher salaries and better working conditions elsewhere."
"The district says it would have to raise class sizes and cut important reading and other student programs to give teachers a cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment. But the state gave the district nearly 4% in new money for a COLA and more on top of that. We want to know why Supt. Buchanan and the district bureaucrats aren't putting those funds in the classroom where they belong," Ennis stresses.
Under pressure from GDEA, the district agreed to a mediation session on Monday. Such sessions bring in a state mediator, who shuttles between the two sides trying to forge an agreement. Under state law, if this shuttle diplomacy fails, the district can impose its last contract offer, and teachers can undertake concerted actions, including a work stoppage that could idle 700 teaching employees and more than 10,000 students. Teachers have been negotiating for nearly a year.
Until a neutral factfinder ruled against the district on February 4, Supt. Buchanan had also been claiming Grant could not afford to offer teachers any salary increase for the 2001-2002 school year. The district has also sought to raise class sizes and to weaken school site safety procedures by allowing students found with weapons to return to campus.
The Grant District Education Association is affiliated with the 319,000-member California Teachers Association/National Education Association.