AP and staff reports

Yesterday would normally have been the deadline for school districts and teachers to reach new contracts, under threat of a $25 per-student state penalty.

Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Yesterday would normally have been the deadline for school districts and teachers to reach new contracts, under threat of a $25 per-student state penalty.

But this bargaining cycle, relatively few districts have settled two-year contracts with teachers unions, in part because the 2001 Legislature suspended the Jan. 15 deadline.

As of Monday, the Minnesota School Boards Association reported settlements in only 20 percent of the state’s school districts, or 66 out of more than 340 in the state. Each district handles its own contracts. But many negotiate with an eye toward the settlements of like-sized neighbors, meaning deals often come in clumps.

Locally, only the Alden-Conger school district has settled negotiations with its teachers. Albert Lea, Glenville-Emmons, United South Central and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva have not settled yet.

In Albert Lea, negotiations are more or less at a standstill, said Mark Stotts, director of finance and operations for the district. Representatives from both sides will meet again next week. Mediation has been discussed, but neither party seems ready for it, he said. The failure of the school levy is not being seen as a major factor in the negotiations.

&uot;Obviously it would have made things a little easier (if it had passed), but the referendum money wasn’t earmarked for salaries, it was for retaining programs. Basically we look for a reasonable settlement every year, whether there is extra money or not,&uot; said Stotts.

&uot;Negotiations are ongoing and progressing positively,&uot; said Paul Moore, co-president of the Glenville-Emmons Education Association. The school board took a wait and see attitude towards negotiations, given the uncertainty about what the Governor might be proposing as state budget reductions, said Todd Chessmore, district superintendent.

Negotiations have been a little tougher at USC schools. Teachers and the school board will be going to mediation in early February. The teachers filed for mediation after the board and union brought forward their proposals, said Frank Lorentz, USC district superintendent.

At the NRHEG school district, Superintendent Rich Lorenz said that teachers and district negotiators are still at the table discussing issues and are making progress.

The waiving of the Jan. 15 deadline is not the only reason cited for the slow pace of negotiations statewide.

Because state budget decisions stretched into late June, some school districts didn’t get financial audits back until late fall and a record number of districts sought more money from voters in November referenda.

”There was a natural slowdown just relative to not knowing what money is out there,” said John Sylvester, the MSBA’s director of management services.

With many districts claiming big budget gaps and the state battling a projected deficit of its own, there is even more uncertainty.

A new ”structural balance” law requires school officials to prove that labor contracts won’t put district budgets in the red. It was meant to stop what Gov. Jesse Ventura and some legislators saw as runaway contracts that schools couldn’t afford.

On average, teacher contract settlements so far are slightly more restrained than the 1999-2001 cycle, according to the MSBA. Teachers are in line for average increases of about 9.4 percent in total compensation over the two years, compared to an increase of 10 percent in the previous contract period.

The structural balance law combined with the eased deadline and tough economic times favor school district leaders, said Mario Bognanno, professor of industrial relations at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

District leaders have long complained that the Jan. 15 deadline has forced them into rich contracts because some unions held out as long as they could. That wouldn’t work in this environment, Bognanno said.

”If unions strategically delayed settlements, that was a wrong move in as much as economic conditions seem to have gotten worse,” he said.