F

l a sh p o i n ts

NEGOTIATIONS

www.peateachers.org

Ne EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
A PUBLICATION OF THE PITTSBURG
159 E. 4th Street, Pittsburg, CA 94565 (925)
got 432-0199, info@peateachers.org

November 12, 2014

Districts Latest Proposal Leaves Much to Be Desired
The district is hoping to WEAR US DOWN and get us to settle for a less than stellar deal. We
have to stay UNITED, stay STRONG, and work for the FAIR deal we deserve!!!
We cannot settle just yet. Heres why:
*The district wants to reduce elementary lunch by 20 minutes.
*The district refuses to agree on language that ensures they will use the state money allocated for class
size reduction for class size reduction. Yep, you read that correctly.
* The district refuses to allow us to come back to the table to bargain salary and benefits for 2015-16
when we have real budget numbers.
* The district refuses to agree to any reasonable limits on how long they can hold you in meetings
without compensation on adjusted days. (This might not apply to you, but some of our colleagues have
stayed 2 hours or more beyond the contracted day in a single meeting!)
*The district wants to invalidate all MOUs that have been previously negotiated.
PEA is still working hard on your behalf for a one-year contract, which deals with the money that the
district knows they have NOW. The association believes a 9% increase for the year is FAIR and that
the benefits offer is close to a decent deal. The district has come down from a closed three-year
agreement to a closed two-year agreement with reopeners in the third year. Although, the district offer
for this year is good (it is being paid by the massive new amount of ongoing money from the state), the
district is offering much less in the second year even though they are going to get EVEN MORE new,
ongoing money in 2015-16! Their goal was to make the first year look great while giving very little in
the second year. PEA should not settle for this two-year deal. Remember, the last time we settled on a
closed-deal, the district banked huge amounts of money on our backs. Again, the district wants to
bank money at your expense in future years. We will not do that again!
Our association previously proposed teachers share control of determining extended meeting day
content with principals in addition to having reasonable time limits. We moved away from this
proposal to give principals full control to pick the content 3 out of 4 meeting days per month. PEA
feels that this should get the district to agree to some sort of limit to the amount of time administrators
can keep teachers uncompensated beyond the workday. The district accepted our movement, but made
PEA Bargaining Team: Mark Maselli, Chair Hillview JHS, Jeff Greco Rancho Medanos JHS, Tammy Carr Highlands,
Andrea McKinney Black Diamond HS and Rosemary Louissaint CTA Staff

no movement on their own proposal. Again they have shown they do not respect our personal time or
obligations.
Regarding class size limits, the district wants us to agree to let them get out of the state mandated goal
of 24-1 at K-3. No way! The money is for class size reduction and they want to be able to ignore the
state and spend it on whatever they want. On the brightside, we got a little movement on speech
pathologists caseloads, however, we do not feel this is enough to allow them to ignore state law on
elementary class size. Additionally, the district is not willing to agree to language which would prevent
loading Resource Specialist teachers classrooms with students over their caseload of 28.
Lastly, we have not agreed on the following outstanding issues: PAR, summer school, and evaluation
over new online system.
The district is hoping to WEAR US DOWN and get us to settle for a less than stellar deal. We
have to stay UNITED, stay STRONG, and work for the FAIR deal we deserve!!!

Please show up for a quick rally with your PEA reps on Railroad Avenue @
Bliss Avenue (near Mi Pueblo) on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17 from 3:304:15! Our Pittsburg community is always so supportive and the passerbys
love to honk in support of PEA teachers! Wear your yellow PEA shirt and
bring a whistle!!
In Solidarity,
Your PEA Bargaining Team

PEA Bargaining Team: Mark Maselli, Chair Hillview JHS, Jeff Greco Rancho Medanos JHS, Tammy Carr Highlands,
Andrea McKinney Black Diamond HS and Rosemary Louissaint CTA Staff