A lot of attention rightly has been given to this week's electoral results from Wisconsin -- and to a lesser extent, San Diego and San Jose -- which show some real hollowness in government union political strength. Leaders at the state and city level (Scott Walker foremost among them) have been vindicated for pursuing bold strategies to rein in lavish pension and benefit plans or to limit directly the privileges many unions have enjoyed... and abused. Other governors, legislators, mayors and councilmen are expected to follow suit. Yet at the same time, less-publicized events in a Colorado school district soon may end up resulting in a similar ripple effect.
Back in March, the reform-minded conservative Douglas County Board of Education and the longstanding union, the Douglas County Federation of Teachers (DCFT), agreed for the first time ever to hold discussions to renew the bargaining agreement in public. Open negotiations kicked off eight weeks ago. Douglas County covers a fast-growing area of suburban Denver and is the state's third-largest, and the nation's 66th-largest, school district with more than 60,000 students enrolled. The Board made some ambitious proposals in clear public view, including:
For now, Twitter addicts can look up the #dougconeg hashtag and follow the prolific postings of Parent Led Reform and Ed Is Watching to get a sense of the proceedings.
The clock is ticking as this week's marathon run toward the end of scheduled negotiations and a couple key deadlines near. On June 30 the current collective bargaining agreement expires. DCFT negotiators have sought absolute guarantees, and more recently demanded the introduction of a federal mediator. Instead, school board president John Carson declared at Tuesday's board meeting that he has hesitations about signing a new CBA because union leaders have verbally attacked the superintendent and persisted in spreading misinformation about the district's budget situation.
Standing even closer is the district's June 15 deadline for teachers to return contracts indicating they wish to continue employment. Many of the more than 3,000 teacher contracts have been returned. At this morning's negotiations, the district's HR director reported that teacher retirements and "involuntary turnover" have increased somewhat from last year and only six are transferring to neighboring districts. With the same number of instructional job postings as last year, the number of applicants have increased.
For all the changes being proposed and touted in Douglas County, the union's rhetoric surrounding the loss of its perceived bargaining power looks overblown. Where exactly this situation ends up in the next few weeks, it's difficult to say. Yet while the fear may not be spreading around the school district as much as the status quo defenders would like, some of the Board's bold reform ideas soon may be spreading to other parts of Colorado... and the nation.
- A truly world-class performance pay system;
- Differential market pay for new hires based on teaching specialty;
- An across-the-board 1% pay raise and 1% retention bonus in exchange for phasing out generous severance packages;
- No more special union access to district facilities and communication systems;
- An end to all tax-funded union release time activities;
- Termination of district collection of union dues; and
- Recognition that the district doesn't have to negotiate exclusively with the AFT affiliate.
For now, Twitter addicts can look up the #dougconeg hashtag and follow the prolific postings of Parent Led Reform and Ed Is Watching to get a sense of the proceedings.
The clock is ticking as this week's marathon run toward the end of scheduled negotiations and a couple key deadlines near. On June 30 the current collective bargaining agreement expires. DCFT negotiators have sought absolute guarantees, and more recently demanded the introduction of a federal mediator. Instead, school board president John Carson declared at Tuesday's board meeting that he has hesitations about signing a new CBA because union leaders have verbally attacked the superintendent and persisted in spreading misinformation about the district's budget situation.
Standing even closer is the district's June 15 deadline for teachers to return contracts indicating they wish to continue employment. Many of the more than 3,000 teacher contracts have been returned. At this morning's negotiations, the district's HR director reported that teacher retirements and "involuntary turnover" have increased somewhat from last year and only six are transferring to neighboring districts. With the same number of instructional job postings as last year, the number of applicants have increased.
For all the changes being proposed and touted in Douglas County, the union's rhetoric surrounding the loss of its perceived bargaining power looks overblown. Where exactly this situation ends up in the next few weeks, it's difficult to say. Yet while the fear may not be spreading around the school district as much as the status quo defenders would like, some of the Board's bold reform ideas soon may be spreading to other parts of Colorado... and the nation.
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