A few of Clark County’s largest teacher unions put out statements Saturday showing a growing tension during bargaining, as the districts and unions worked to try to avoid the county’s six strikes spreading to a second week.
In a Facebook post Saturday afternoon, the Evergreen Education Association said Superintendent John Steach is “misleading the Evergreen community.” The post didn’t stop with just Steach.
“Here in Clark County, Steach and other school superintendents refuse to negotiate fair pay raises for teachers,” the post read. “As a result, most Clark County schools are closed and thousands of students aren’t in school. The only teacher strikes in the entire country are here in Southwest Washington. That’s because our superintendents lack leadership and they don’t value teachers.”
Echoes in Vancouver
The Vancouver Education Association also called out its superintendent in a Facebook post on Saturday after the district publicized its latest offer to the teachers union.
The new deal would give teachers a 13.6 percent increase in total compensation from the year prior, according to information from the district.
Teachers’ total compensation would increase 18.1 percent over the next three years as part of the deal, which would require the district to address a “$9.1 million shortfall over three years to pay for the current proposal, requiring budget cutting and spending from the district’s ending fund balance,” according to the release.
As an example of possible cuts, the district’s website claimed that covering the shortfall could result in the elimination of 92.4 teaching positions, or 55.6 administrative positions, or 130.2 classified positions. VPS spokeswoman Pat Nuzzo said the cuts would not come until the second and third year of the contract; the initial shortfall would be covered by the district’s reserve fund, she said.
The Vancouver union’s statement disputed a few claims in the district’s offer, noting that the 13.6 percent increase includes additional days of work, meaning it’s not actually that much of an increase.
“If (Superintendent Steve) Webb were offering a pure pay raise of 13.6 percent for VEA members in 2018-2019, we would have a tentative agreement,” the union’s post reads.
Six already on strike
Evergreen and Vancouver are two of six teacher unions currently on strike in Clark County, along with teachers in Battle Ground, Washougal, Ridgefield and Hockinson.
All were scheduled to bargain this weekend.
Teachers remain at odds over salary agreements, as districts around Washington negotiate how to spend the additional money they’re slated to receive after two years of McCleary legislation. The Legislature allocated $7.3 billion over four years toward basic education during the 2017 session, then put another $1 billion toward teacher salaries this year.
Vancouver is receiving $52.4 million in net new discretionary funding in the next three years thanks to the McCleary decision. Vancouver’s latest offer would cost the district $61.5 million throughout the next three years, a $3.8 million increase from the district’s last publicly released proposal, according to a release.
The offer from the district comes after roughly 22 straight hours of negotiating. The salary schedule for the upcoming year would be $50,413 to $95,019, followed by $51,371 to $96,825 for the 2019-2020 school year and $52,399 to $98,762 in 2020-2021.
Rick Wilson, executive director of the teachers union, said the two sides started bargaining around 9 a.m. Friday and finished up at roughly 7 a.m. Saturday. Wilson said his phone started “blowing up” with calls and texts from members shortly after the district’s press release went out.
“I just spent 22 hours sitting at a bargaining table with the district,” he said. “We worked together to try and craft an agreement. We’re still not there.”
Wilson said the union plans on presenting a counter-proposal to the district when both sides return to the bargaining table Sunday. He also said the two sides have some tentative agreements on items in the contract not relating to salary.
Wilson added that salary is the last thing the union and district are working on.
Saturday marked the second straight day where the district and union got into a public spat after Webb issued an “Open Letter to the Community” on Friday on the district’s website and FlashAlert, a widely used press release distribution service, saying “every single net new discretionary McCleary dollar, and more, would be invested into teacher compensation.”
Webb also blamed the Legislature for changes to state school funding, saying the district is “in a no-win position of negotiating fair and competitive teacher salaries while significantly reducing the amount of revenue we can collect to help pay for employee compensation.”
The teachers union responded with a letter accusing Webb and other county districts of “making excuses and complaining about our state’s new funding system.”
Wilson said he’s “incredibly disappointed the district has decided to try and solve this in public rather than at the table, where it belongs.” He added that putting so much of an “incomplete offer” out publicly “distorts the process and shows a lack of respect for the process.”
“It’s impacting hard work at the bargaining table being done by both sides,” Wilson said.
Vancouver has been on strike since Wednesday, along with teachers in Ridgefield, Battle Ground and Hockinson.
Teachers in Evergreen and Washougal started their strikes on Tuesday.
So far, only Woodland and La Center schools have opened this school year.
Camas strike looms
Teachers in Camas approved a strike if they can’t come to an agreement before their first scheduled day of classes on Tuesday.
Mark Gardner, lead negotiator for the Camas teachers union, wrote in a text message Friday night that the two sides still haven’t reached a deal.
They returned to the table Saturday morning with a state mediator.
Bargaining was scheduled Saturday in Evergreen, Washougal and Ridgefield, while Battle Ground and Hockinson are scheduled to return to the bargaining tables Sunday morning.
Seattle Public Schools, the state’s largest district, announced around 10 p.m. Friday that a deal has been reached with the Seattle Education Association, according to the Seattle Times.
The report stated that no details of the deal were made available, and the teachers union will hold a ratification vote next Saturday.
Katie Gillespie contributed to this report.
