EMB's position on the deadline

Education Minnesota Brainerd is disappointed, like everyone in the school district, that the district and EMB could not settle the 2009-11 teacher contract prior to the Jan. 15 deadline. We are not pleased to be one of five employee groups in our school district without a current contract, or to be the third group to enter mediation. Both negotiations teams, EMB and the district, worked hard to reach an agreement prior to the deadline and gave it their best efforts. The EMB Negotiations Team was willing to come to the bargaining table at every invitation of the district. Our negotiators were always well prepared (with an informed perspective) and have consistently modeled the standard of bargaining in good faith. EMB has never made a practice of using the media as part of a contract negotiations strategy and we do not intend to do so. Therefore, we will not address specific proposals or counter proposals of either the district or EMB while negotiations are in process. As always, we will continue to honestly report all aspects of new teacher contracts upon approval of the membership and the district. We have truly attempted to bargain this teacher contract while striving to maintain, or achieve, a settlement that meets our standard of supporting initiatives that are good for kids and fair for teachers.

Anyone who has ever been party to prolonged negotiations, realizes there are many possible reasons for an inability to reach an agreement (i.e. working conditions, salary, responsibilities, benefits, process, contract language). The notion that EMB's teachers are greedy is simply misguided and unfounded. Last year alone, our teachers voted on two separate initiatives that provided the district over $600,000 of funding (to be used for programs and class size reduction efforts) that directly benefitted the students of this school district. By choosing to vote yes on these matters, EMB's teachers voluntarily increased their workload and gave the district access to on the job training funding that would have otherwise been unavailable to directly benefit students due to legislative mandates. The voluntary reallocation of Staff Development funding resulted in a direct cost to teachers renewing their teaching licenses, as many teachers needed to pay for continuing education requirements. We believe these are not the type of actions typically attributed to greedy people.

EMB leadership is aware that four year fiscal projections of doom and gloom have been communicated publicly by the district. However, EMB believes that projections of such duration are most often inaccurate. Public entities are funded on a two-year budgetary cycle, and accurate projections beyond that context are difficult if not impossible. Such projection becomes even more problematic when it spans an election year, as a great deal of funding policy is dependent on the legislature's make up. One simply needs to look at the four-year budget forecasts prior to the failed referendum (2007) for evidence of the accuracy of such long range projections. Prior to the failed referendum, we were presented doom and gloom projections for the present time which included drastic cuts followed by fund balances of hundreds of thousands of dollars. These projections were far different from the millions (approximately $6 million cash and/or $8 million total) currently in the unreserved fund balance. EMB does understand the tough economic times in which we live. EMB's members, along with many of our spouses, children, colleagues, neighbors and friends; are dealing with the obstacles these challenging times place in our lives on a daily basis. Many community members do not realize the school district is still down 65 teaching positions, approximately 125 staff positions, from pre-referendum days. While EMB recognizes the tough times we are in, we continue to believe the new contract our negotiations team has bargained toward is reasonable and well deserved considering the current state of the unreserved fund balance.

Our teachers have been working harder, and doing more with less in terms of curriculum and supply budgets, for many years. These budgetary reductions began years before the failed referendum. This means that students, and teachers, are dealing with higher class sizes, in many cases 35-40 students in a classroom. This has resulted in less student contact time per student, and increased expectations of homework, supervision, and communication for teachers. EMB is proud of the students, and teachers, in our community for continuing Brainerd's legacy of top notch student achievement while coping with these limiting factors. If Brainerd Public Schools are to continue to be a top quality school system, a school district that can attract and retain the best teachers for our students, we need a teacher contract settlement that is similar to those in our geographic area, conference, and across the state. The expectations of the EMB Negotiations Team, and our membership, fall within these parameters. EMB is eager to resume efforts to reach agreement on the 2009-11 teacher contract as this is in the best interest of all parties. We commit to continuing to bargain in good faith and we are hopeful the remaining differences in the positions of EMB and the district can, and will, be resolved in a timely fashion through mediation.

TIM EDINGER is a teacher and president of Education Minnesota Brainerd. This column was submitted on behalf of the Education Minnesota Governing Board.