 | Home | Back |
DETROIT SCHOOLS SHOWDOWN: Teachers on strike
BY CHASTITY PRATT and KIM NORRIS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
August 28, 2006
|
|
| Where the sides disagree |
| The school year for Detroit students is supposed to start Sept. 5, a week from Tuesday. Under Michigan law, a strike by teachers is illegal, but the union and the school district remain far apart on key contract proposals. Length of Contract Teachers want a three-year contract. The district is proposing two years. Wages Teachers seek 5% raises in each contract year. The district proposes a freeze on increases and a 5.5% pay cut across the board. Health care The district wants teachers to pay 10% or 20% of their health insurance premium, depending on their hiring date. Currently, teachers hired after 1992 pay 10%; those hired before then pay 0%. Co-payments for prescription drugs would increase from $3 to $10 on generic drugs and from $15 to $20 on brand-name medications. the district ALSO wants: The teachers also want: |
| How districts compare |
| Here's a snapshot of pay and other conditions at a range of metro Detroit school districts. ARMADA BIRMINGHAM BLOOMFIELD HILLS DETROIT FARMINGTON GROSSE POINTE MT. CLEMENS PONTIAC SOUTHFIELD Note: Total number of teachers still isn't locked in for many districts for the upcoming school year, as many are still hiring. Top pay refers to a top-of-the-scale teacher with a master's degree. Figures provided by school districts. Crime statistics come from the state Center for Educational Performance and Information and reflect reports from the 2004-05 school year for such offenses as robberies, bomb threats, physical violence, sexual assault, gang activity, vandalism and having weapons on school grounds. |
The Detroit Federation of Teachers voted Sunday against a two-year contract proposal that included pay and benefit cuts and agreed to a strike that will put teachers on the picket lines in front of schools starting today.
Many teachers said they would accept a pay freeze, but considering the amount of crime in schools and bureaucratic mismanagement they say they put up with, they would not entertain the 5.5% pay cut the school district proposed. The union wants a three-year contract with 5% pay increases each year.
Ronald Duncan, a Cooley High School teacher, stood in support of a strike, clapping. One of his hands was in a cast he says is the result of an incident where a student body-slammed him, tearing the ligaments in his right arm.
"We make a big sacrifice. I can't tell you how much we spend buying supplies, and they want us to take a cut? It's not fair," he said. "In fact, I say it should be illegal."
The teachers were due back to work today, but the union and district are far apart. The two sides have a week to come to an agreement before school starts for the district's 129,000 students on Sept. 5.
Contract negotiations are to resume at 1 p.m. today.
The school district, fearing the strike, plans to petition for a court order today to force the teachers back to work and fine those who strike.
Superintendent William F. Coleman III said that if teachers do strike, parents should send their children as planned for the first day of school.
Administrators, support staff and security will be on hand to accept students, he said, adding that the district does not have enough administrators to replace the 7,000 teachers.
He maintained that the district needs $88 million in concessions from the union. "A strike does not change our financial situation," he said.
School board president Jimmy Womack criticized the union, saying the strike would hurt the city and hurt schools. Most Detroit teachers do not send their own children because 60% of the teachers do not live in the city.
"They need to take their concessions like everyone else. They need to participate in this revolution to try to bring this district back in line," Womack said, referring to the district's $105-million projected budget deficit.
"And from my perspective, they're clearly a part of the problem and not of the solution right now," he said of the union.
Of the estimated 6,000 DFT members who met at Cobo Arena for the vote, only a handful stood up in the auditorium to support the idea of returning to work while negotiators continued to craft a new contract.
Detroiter Tom Wilson, a teacher in the district since 1997, most recently at McMichael Technological Academy, was one of the few who wanted to return to work today.
"Parents have been hearing the 'S' word and are sending their kids to charter schools and out of the district. If I'm a working parent, I can't take a chance there won't be school to send my kids to," he said.
His concerns were echoed by some parents, who worried not only about their own children, but the long-term future of the Detroit Public Schools, too.
"I think it's going to devastate the district because people will leave," said Mia Parker, who has children in three Detroit schools.
Janna Garrison, president of the DFT, never uttered the word "strike," but made it clear to the union that laws prohibit a work stoppage.
"Just because it's a law, doesn't make it right," she added. "We believe we are fighting for what's right."
Under Michigan law, teachers could be fined a day's pay for each full or partial day they do not report to work. The union could be fined up to $5,000 a day.
By many accounts, Detroit teachers have it tough when compared with their suburban counterparts.
Most spend their days in crowded classrooms in school buildings that are an average of 65 years old and deteriorating. They are routinely victimized by car thieves and, last year, by armed robbers, too.
Add to that the public perception that the education they provide often does not measure up, and many teachers say it's a thankless work environment where even office equipment isn't available.
"I want to be able to make copies when I need them. That's embarrassing to have to put that in the contract," said Theresa Williams, who will teach second grade this year at Murphy Elementary/Middle School.
Kia Hagens, 31, of Detroit taught on-and-off in the district for about eight years between getting a master's degree and a law degree. She went to teach in Farmington Public Schools after DPS laid her off in 2005. Her pay jumped $7,000 and she has the potential to earn a top pay of $83,417 in Farmington compared with $72,918 in Detroit.
She still remembers the day when a mouse jumped out of her cupboard in her sixth-grade class at Golightly Education Center.
"In Detroit, they do not take care of business. You never know if you're going to be paid on time or not. And they do not treat their teachers well. I would tell any teacher on the fifth step or below, 'Run! You deserve better,' " she said, referring to the salary scale.
In addition to a pay cut, the district wants teachers to pay up to 20% of their health care benefits premiums.
A Kaiser Foundation survey found that nationally, the average worker with single coverage contributes $558 to his or her annual premium.
Not so with many teachers.
School employee benefits are better than the health benefit plans for 90% of other workers, said Adam Reese, senior consultant for HayGroup, a Virginia-based company that completed a study of school employee benefits for the Michigan Legislative Council last year.
"Teachers have traditionally been provided with fairly rich benefits to ensure that their focus is on delivering care and education to students, not worrying about, 'I can't afford to go to the dentist or the doctor,' " Reese said.
Shaton Berry said the current economy is not going to help the teachers gain support from the community when so many parents are losing their jobs. She has custody of two brothers in the district.
"I pay $120 a pay period for health insurance plus dental and vision, so I don't have any sympathy when you're talking about health care," she said. "In the end, the students are the ones being hurt here. And if students leave, teachers are going to lose their jobs."
Detroit's teachers on Sunday were not amenable to cutting their pay or benefits.
Steve Conn, a math teacher at Cass Technical High who is credited with instigating the vote that led to a strike in 1999, also riled up the crowd with an emotional speech Sunday, chanting, "No contract, no work!" after which DFT member Michelle Gibson asked Garrison to call for the vote.
Contact CHASTITY PRATT at 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment