Teachers still at the table
— for now

The Boston Teachers Union (BTU) recently voted to postpone a planned strike and continue negotiations with Boston Public Schools.

“We believe there is ample time to get the details of the contract settled,” said Steve Crawford, spokesperson for the BTU, which represents about 8,000 teachers and staff members in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). “It’s time for the school committee to get serious about a settlement … we’ve clearly demonstrated our flexibility and it’s time for them to demonstrate theirs.”

The “details” in contention are salaries and health care costs. The union wants a nearly 22 percent raise over the next four years, but at this time the city is only offering a 10 percent increase.

Union officials held daylong negotiation sessions every day last week in hopes of settling the score. BPS teachers have been working without a contract since August.

Last Wednesday, an agreement was reached, with BPS agreeing to drop a proposal that BTU argued would have increased class sizes.

BPS Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis proposed a compromise in order to accelerate contract talks. He suggested that if the union agrees to key education reforms — most notably greater flexibility to help transform the 20 lowest performing schools — he would withdraw the district’s controversial class size proposal.

Given last week’s threats of a strike, that agreement was met with optimism.

“I am very pleased to learn that the Boston School Department and the Boston Teachers Union have reached an agreement on the critical issue of class size for the benefit of our children’s educational future,” said City Council President Maureen E. Feeney. “This is an important milestone, but I know that more negotiation remains.”

In the meantime, Boston school officials are questioning why the union is still moving forward with plans to strike. According to state law, public employee unions are prohibited from “inducing, encouraging or condoning” any work stoppage or withholding of services.

“It is illegal for public employees to strike in Massachusetts, period,” said Contompasis. “You are forbidden from asking your members to take a strike vote today, tomorrow, next week, anytime.  And once again the union has snubbed the court’s ruling by proceeding with a possible strike vote at the end of the month.”

The BTU refused to comment on the legalities of their actions.

Last Friday, the state Labor Relations Commission asked a Superior Court judge to find BTU leaders in contempt for failing to comply with a Feb. 13 injunction requiring the union to cease and desist all strike planning activities.

A union strike would have required district officials to cancel school for 57,000 students. Had the teachers gone on strike, Contompasis was prepared to close school for all students that day.

“For the sake of Boston’s children and families, I am relieved that the union [had] chosen not to engage in an illegal strike [the next day],” Contompasis said in a statement. “The place for these negotiations to take place is at the bargaining table, and that’s exactly where we’ll be until this is resolved.  Until then, we are pleased that teachers will continue to teach so that students will continue to learn.”

Earlier last week, state Commissioner of Education David Driscoll joined BPS officials in denouncing the union’s actions.

“The expected strike by Boston Public Schools teachers can only be described as destructive and self serving and there’s a reason for that,” said Driscoll. “In education, the needs of the children have to come first.”

Contompasis noted that the district and the union still have to reach agreement on compensation issues.  School officials have offered a package that would give teachers a 10 percent base salary increase, plus additional step increases ranging from 5 to 7 percent each year, stipends, career awards and health and welfare benefits.

The proposal also calls for teachers to help control the escalating cost of health insurance by increasing each employee’s contribution from 10 to 15 percent of insurance premiums over the next three years, which Contompasis said is still well below the employee share in most other cities and towns in Massachusetts.

“Negotiations are all about give and take,” said Contompasis. “We have several key issues that we are not willing to walk away from, particularly the need to make radical changes in schools making the least improvement.  I’ve told union leaders that if they are willing to meet us halfway on our plan to transform those schools, we’ll back off on our proposal to deal with exceptional class size circumstances.”

Contompasis explained that his proposal pertaining to class size is not as widespread as union leaders have suggested, and would allow the district to add only one or two students in a small number of classrooms under unusual circumstances. Contompasis’s proposal would identify and support up to 20 schools over the next three years that are at greatest risk of closure or state intervention because of low student performance.

The superintendent noted that principals, teachers, parents and the community would be expected to work together to craft turnaround plans for these schools, and to be accountable for its results. His plan would assemble a team of administrators and teachers in each school to devise and execute a dramatic turnaround plan, giving them flexibility from many union and district regulations.

Contompasis’s other proposals include giving principals the authority to hire the most qualified teachers in neediest classrooms, regardless of seniority; extending the school day in these schools by one hour every day to give students more instructional time and paying teachers an additional 15 percent for their extra time.

The proposal would also require an additional 20 hours of paid professional development for teachers focused on the particular academic needs of students in these schools and provide financial incentives to attract the most qualified and experienced teachers, with 5 percent pay hikes above and beyond all other step and contractual increases.