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After a Springfield teachers union leader expressed frustration about negotiations last week, a district spokesperson highlighted the reasoning behind its proposals.
Springfield Public Schools (SPS) district leadership says bargaining with the teachers union is progressing “as designed” after the Springfield Education Association bargaining chair criticized the district’s proposals last week.
“Progress is being made,” wrote Brian Richardson, SPS director of communications and community engagement, in an email to Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “Springfield Public Schools is prepared to meet over the summer months to continue discussions and work towards agreement.”
Maria Sayre-Heiss, Springfield Education Association bargaining chair, said her team of teachers will not be ready to come back to the bargaining table until August, due to summer vacations.
Leaders from both groups volleyed proposals back and forth over six, multi-hour bargaining sessions, but the two sides still do not agree on key issues including pay, workday length and teacher prep time.
The two groups have temporary agreements on 10 out of the 26 articles, according to Richardson.
Why district wants longer work day, lower COLA increase
Brett Yancey, SPS chief operations officer, said in an April 24 bargaining session the district wants a $2 million budget for new proposals added to the union contract, including any salary increases. This shakes out to be a 2.5% cost-of-living increase for the first year of the contract and 2% increases for the second and third years.
The district priced out 12 of the union’s 33 original proposals and estimates it would cost $12 million to implement. This is equivalent to the cost of about 95 full-time-equivalent certified staff members, Yancey said.
“For bargaining to proceed in a productive and fiscally responsible manner, all proposals must be clearly defined, costable and aligned with the district’s fiscal capacity,” Yancey said. “As stewards of public funds, the district is obligated to ensure any agreement is sustainable and maintains long-term organizational stability.”
The union lowered its initial 7% COLA increase proposal to 6.5%. The district hasn’t yet made a counterproposal.
The district also proposes an 8.5-hour workday that would include teachers’ 30-minute duty-free lunch. Right now, teachers have an 8-hour workday that includes lunch.
All other district employees work 8 hours and get paid for 8 hours, which is why the district says teachers should also be on this schedule, Richardson wrote in an email.
District pushes back on additional prep time
In their 2022 contract, Springfield teachers got 30 more minutes of prep time per week, for a total of 360 minutes. This year, the district proposes a 0% increase in prep time, while the union proposes a 51% increase in prep time to 500 minutes for all teachers.
“This is neither practical nor is it supported by evidence of improved student outcomes,” said Dustin Reese, SPS human resources director, at the April 24 bargaining session. “We believe that the current allocation remains generous, sustainable and aligned with our current mission.”
Sayre-Heiss said the district’s proposal is “tone-deaf” to the needs of educators.
The union also wants elementary school teachers to have 45 minutes of prep time every day during student hours, while the district’s proposal is the status quo of 45 minutes three days a week during student hours. This also allows for two “embedded collaborations,” which are meetings where teachers and administrators talk about student progress and test scores.
While Sayre-Heiss said teachers see the benefit of these meetings, they want meetings to be after school so they don’t cut into time teachers use to adjust lesson plans and prep for the rest of the school day. Neither side has moved on these proposals.
Pay adjustment based on class size
Class sizes will likely increase next year, as SPS is cutting the equivalent of 38 full-time positions. The union wants teachers to get paid more per student when their class sizes hit a certain number, to discourage large class sizes.
Reese argued in the April 24 bargaining session that the union’s proposition will not actually bring class sizes down.
“In the few districts in the state of Oregon that have this language, Portland Public being the primary one, the actual experience has overwhelmingly shown that the contract language did not result in lower classes,” Reese said. “That’s because the district is always going to pay the overage when the class size is over by one or two students instead of hiring a new teacher at the cost of more than $100,000.”
The union has not yet budged on its proposal.
Disagreement over decision making
Some union proposals, including how the district chooses curriculum, would put more decision-making power in teachers’ hands than is currently allowed. Teachers, including Sayre-Heiss, have criticized the school district for its “top-down” management.
The district pushed back on proposals that would give teachers more decision-making power.
“While we understand the intent behind these ideas and we value the voice of educators in informing decisions, we must be clear: The district cannot support proposals that require it to give away core decision-making authority,” Reese said on April 24.
Reese said administrators must retain decision-making power because district leaders ensure the district complies with legal, budgetary, and educational standards.
“We are not opposed to collaborative input or inclusive processes,” Reese said. “We already have examples of shared input processes that work well. But any shift towards shared decision making must come with shared accountability. If the district alone bears the consequences of the decisions, whether legal, financial or public, it must also retain authority to make them.”
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