Carlos Garcia says parties will head to mediation

April 20, 2010

 Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday afternoon the Public Employment Relations Board agreed with the District’s determination that an impasse exists in our negotiations with UESF. We are glad an objective mediator will be assigned to work with us, and I have directed our bargaining team to make every effort to begin meeting with the mediator and the UESF bargaining team as soon as possible.

From the beginning of these negotiations the District has asked UESF to work together to reach agreement on economic issues separately from the union’s package of language proposals – like the proposal that would require the District to pick up and deliver Union mail on a daily basis – a practice that judges have previously ruled illegal. In order for the District to rescind related layoff notices, we need to have the economic issues settled. Thus far the two bargaining teams have agreed in concept to four furlough days, which would preserve current class size ranges in K-3 and enable the district to rescind the notices of 75 elementary teachers who would otherwise be laid off.  However, the UESF bargaining team continues to reject the District’s cost saving proposal to temporarily suspend paid sabbaticals, which would save two million dollars per year and the equivalent of 23 teacher jobs.

The UESF negotiators continue to insist that the District concede on contract language issues before they will agree to our temporary economic proposals. You can read more details about some of their contract language proposals in the attachment to this letter. Regardless of our differences on contract language issues, most of which have nothing to do with the student learning, I believe we should be able to agree on the economic proposals aimed at saving as many teachers’ jobs as possible, which is in the best interests of students.

There has been some misinformation put forth about the District’s proposal in the area of layoffs. We estimate upward of 200 jobs could be saved with the emergency economic proposals presented by the District and have said this directly to the UESF negotiators at the bargaining table.  Unfortunately, this year it will be impossible to completely avoid all layoffs and save all jobs, something we have been fortunate to be able to do the past two years because of the City’s rainy day funds and federal stimulus money.  The deficits imposed upon us by this round of State funding cuts are unprecedented. Without a dramatic and immediate economic turnaround, it is inevitable that our District will not look the same next year.  Anyone who asserts that all layoffs can be avoided is mistaken. I am committed to keeping as many of our employees as possible, but the sad reality is that there will have to be cuts in positions throughout the District.  

I also want to set the record straight on the issues of reserves and consultants. Significant sources of one-time funds from the federal stimulus and City’s rainy day fund have contributed temporarily to our reserve balance.  However, we will quickly draw down all available reserves in the next two years as a result of district expenditures that exceed revenues by tens of millions of dollars.  Even after making all the budget cuts I have recommended, our fund balance in two years will only cover the minimum reserve required — just enough to continue to maintain local control of our school district and avoid a takeover by the state.

As to consultants, the great majority of expenses represent direct services to students.  Our largest contracts include nonpublic schools for special education services, after-school programs, private tutoring (mandated by No Child Left Behind), and contracts initiated by school sites using school-based budgets. Additionally, most of the funds spent on contracts are restricted grants, not the unrestricted funds that we need to fund ongoing teaching positions at schools.  More information about these topics can be found in the second attachment to this letter.

Within three weeks we will have to send out final layoff notices to certificated staff. I want these final notices to be the smallest number possible. We need agreement with UESF to make that happen and I pledge we will continue to make every effort to achieve that goal.

 Sincerely,

Carlos A. Garcia

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