Editorial: Elk Grove teachers union puts kids first
Published: Friday, May. 21, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 12A
In these tough times for public schools, the Elk Grove teachers union is offering an object lesson for its brethren: Share the budget pain, protect new instructors and put children first.
To keep elementary classes small and save 210 teaching jobs, Elk Grove Education Association leaders agreed this week to nine furlough days a year, a pay cut of 1 percent to 2 percent, a suspension of bonuses funded by the state lottery and a doubling of co-pays for doctor visits to $40.
The concessions would shave about $10 million off Elk Grove Unified's $60.5 million shortfall in its 2010-11 budget. Now, the givebacks are in the hands of the union's membership of 3,000 teachers, nurses and therapists, who will vote from today through June 1 whether to ratify the two-year agreement. Union leaders deserve credit for sacrificing to mostly spare the classroom in Northern California's largest school district.
The leadership of the Sacramento City Teachers Association should take a cue.
So far, the SCTA's leaders have stubbornly refused to publicly consider similar concessions to help the Sacramento City Unified School District balance its books. They only repeat their contention that the union should not have to reopen a contract that goes through next summer. While other district employees have accepted furloughs, union leaders seem far more interested in preserving
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/21/2766471/elk-grove-teachers-union-puts.html#ixzz0oZ6H0JtD
