Bargaining crises rock Michigan schools
Job actions imminent in Wayne-Westland, Utica
Wayne-Westland teachers voted overwhelmingly Monday to delay the scheduled first day of school next week, a move prompted by big class sizes and manufactured budget deficits.
At their Aug. 22 membership meeting, 97 percent of Utica EA members voted by secret ballot to authorize a job action.
Wayne-Westland isn’t the only district in crisis. Teachers in Utica voted last week to authorize a job action if their contract isn’t settled soon. Bargaining in many other districts remains difficult; nearly 30 local associations are on MEA’s “Critical List,” a designation that means bargaining is protracted and unproductive.
The vast majority of more than 700 teachers who attended a Wayne-Westland Education Association meeting Monday afternoon voted to delay the Sept. 2 start if the district continues to bargain in bad faith and prevents a fair and equitable contract settlement.
The main sticking point in negotiations is class sizes – they’re too big, said Dave Spurlock, a member of the bargaining team.
“We’ve taken large class sizes and helped make those students and their test scores great, but we want support for what we do,” he said.
Hundreds of Wayne-Westland teachers attended a meeting Monday for an update on bargaining. Nearly all of them voted to delay the start of school if their district continues to bargain in bad faith and prevents a fair and equitable contract settlement.
Some elementary classes have 36 students, and some high school classes have 38 students. Research shows that students generally do better academically in classes with smaller teacher:student ratios because they get more personalized attention.
Just last week, teachers in Utica voted to authorize their bargaining team to initiate a job action if bargaining fails to produce a settlement. A job action includes a host of activities that all members are ready to participate in.
“Right now, teachers are usually filled with excitement about the start of a new school year,” said David Kenewell, Utica Education Association president, adding that teachers in his district are disappointed with the state of bargaining. The district has about 1,600 teachers.
Both districts have used questionable financial practices to taint the bargaining climate.
In Wayne-Westland, the district moved money from its general fund to purchase items instead of investing in smaller class sizes, said MEA economist Ruth Beier after reviewing documents compiled by the district.
“The district has chosen to have a deficit,” Beier said. “…Either they don’t budget well or they have their priorities in the wrong place.”
In Utica, officials claim financial difficulties in spite of having a reported $48 million in the bank as of the 2006-07 school year, Beier said.
“If we were really in a financial crisis, Utica teachers would be there for the district and the community as we’ve always been,” Kenewell said. “But this district is not in financial crisis.”