Teachers’ contract negotiations stall

GLENDALE — Nine months of negotiations between the Glendale Unified School District and the Glendale Teachers Assn. have ended in a stalemate, setting the stage for more wrangling this fall as both sides seek an agreement on new contracts.

While the union agreement technically expires today, it will roll over on a day-to-day basis until both parties come to terms on a new contract or until one of them decides to opt out of the deal, officials said.

Negotiations have been at a standstill regarding a district request for the flexibility to adjust provisions of the contract on an annual basis because of the looming threat of education funding cuts from Sacramento as lawmakers continue to battle over how to close a multibillion-dollar deficit.

Union officials have countered that the district’s current fiscal stability will allow it to remain solvent for at least the next two years, after which it might need the flexibility to negotiate some contract terms.

The standoff is expected to last until at least September, when the parties have scheduled their next bargaining meeting.

The district has $21.3 million in reserves that it plans to spend as part of an effort to balance about $60 million in losses expected to come from state budget cuts over the next three years.

In addition to the reserve money, administrators plan to increase some class sizes, reduce funding for some programs and possibly eliminate bus transportation to Clark Magnet High School in an attempt to alleviate the funding shortfall.

The district is also consolidating administrative positions and exploring cost-saving measures that might include raising class sizes, negotiating rising utility costs with the city or adjusting health-care payments for employees, a move that would need to be achieved through contract talks.

District officials have repeatedly asked that any new contract for teachers include the flexibility to renegotiate salaries, health benefits, early retirement qualifications and class sizes, among other provisions.

The flexibility is necessary, in case state lawmakers opt to further slash education funds, said John Garcia, assistant superintendent of human resources.

“For 2009-10, at this point we have reached tentative agreement for maintaining health and welfare benefits,” Garcia said.

“But for 2010-11 and 2011-12 we still have no idea how bad the cuts are going to be, so the proposal that we are giving them would give us the opportunity to address things in a thoughtful manner.”

But Glendale Teachers Assn. President Tami Carlson was insistent that the district has the ability to meet its obligations under the current contract.

She rebuffed the district’s proposals to adjust teachers’ salaries, health benefits and class sizes because the changes could adversely affect classroom environments, she said.

“[The union’s] position is that of course we feel that they should spend down their reserves and eliminate unnecessary programs prior to taking any measures that affect the classroom so drastically, and that we’re willing to do a one- or two-year rollover and reassess what the district’s financial position is at that time,” Carlson said.

“But they’re completely unwilling to do that. They just keep re-offering the same thing.”

Carlson would not elaborate on what programs might be unnecessary or too costly.

Because administrators have crafted a budget that will keep the district solvent through 2011, a one- or two-year extension of the current contract would allow the parties to renegotiate once the state fiscal situation becomes more clear, Carlson said.

For now, the district should focus on making cuts that do not affect the classroom environment, she said.

The district has trimmed some costs in its front office, consolidating dozens of positions and freezing new hires for administrative jobs, but employee health insurance costs may rise too sharply to allow the district to stay out of the red three years down the line, Supt. Michael Escalante said.

Projections for state budget cuts have appeared so devastating on paper that the district submitted a budget that reflected an expected deficit in 2012, Escalante said.

To avoid that situation, contract changes might be necessary, particularly related to health insurance payments, for which Glendale Unified is much more generous than other school districts in Los Angeles County, he said.

But no progress will be made until union and district officials come to terms on new contract provisions, a development that may be hindered by the continuation of the current contract, Escalante said.

To make negotiations more urgent, administrators may recommend that the Board of Education terminate its agreement with teachers, Escalante said.

“It’s always a consideration,” he said. “Maybe that’s what we need to do to get [the teachers union] back to the table.”

Escalante has not broached the issue to the board, but the district’s shaky financial outlook may prompt him to do so, he said.

“It is absolutely the most challenging of times, and districts have to watch every penny,” Escalante said.

“The future is totally uncharted, and we’re doing things that we never dreamed we would have to do.”

?ZAIN SHAUK covers education. He may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at zain.shauk@latimes.com.