With deadlines looming against a backdrop of uncertainty, some area school districts are scurrying to reach agreements with employee unions, gaining concessions in benefits to avoid mass layoffs and program cuts.
A few agreements are new or extended contracts, including a two-year contract for teachers approved last week in Menomonee Falls. Others, such as an agreement approved for West Allis-West Milwaukee teachers, are more limited. School districts could have made the changes without union approval if the law largely eliminating collective bargaining for most public employees wasn't stalled in court.
School officials also are crafting new employee handbooks to replace union contracts, outlining benefits and working conditions no longer subject to negotiations if, as expected, collective bargaining is limited to wages.
Some districts are obligated by contract to send layoff notices by June 1. Districts also must give 30 days' notice if they want to switch to less expensive insurance plans before the new fiscal year begins July 1. Many districts have union contracts that expire June 30.
Those deadlines have major ramifications with funding cuts in state aid expected. The Legislature's budget committee last week voted to cut school aid by nearly $800 million over two years - a decrease that Democrats said would be devastating for students. Republican lawmakers said the cuts would help balance a $3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes.
Current law requires school districts to bargain in good faith as contracts expire, said Dan Rossmiller, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
"School boards are in a really awkward position," Rossmiller said. "Because of all the uncertainty, they have one foot on the dock and one foot in the boat."
School officials say the new pacts will save money as they grapple with state funding cuts. Rossmiller said the agreements generally align with the collective bargaining law, which gives school districts the ability to require employees to pay higher health insurance premiums and make pension contributions to help make up for lost state aid. Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget prohibits districts from raising property taxes.
For teachers with contracts that are expiring, the new agreements offer some certainty before the school year ends, Rossmiller said.
"What school leaders and unions are trying to do is bring stability to what is a very unstable time, in whatever form is acceptable to both parties," said Jack Linehan, retired Shorewood schools superintendent and executive director of the Southeast Wisconsin Schools Alliance, a group that lobbies for public school funding.
Some districts have a large number of teachers who are 55 to 57 years old, he said. If their contracts expire, "to do nothing doesn't seem right for particularly fine teachers who worked for decades with the expectation of retirement benefits," Linehan said.
Also, several districts are dropping WEA Trust, the nonprofit company started 40 years ago by the state's largest teachers union, in favor of insurance carriers that offer less expensive plans. WEA Trust currently insures employees in about two-thirds of Wisconsin school districts and has been controversial because of what critics say are relatively high costs.
School boards are paying a price politically for extending labor agreements "because it looks like they are caving in, when in fact, they are working with teachers on a bridge" because the state budget and collective bargaining law are unresolved, Linehan said.
Critics argue that giving teachers contracts now may cost school districts more later because the contracts preserve unions and benefits that would not have to be negotiated under the collective bargaining law.
In Menomonee Falls, opponents of the new contract responded with jeers of "shame" when the school board approved the pact.
Limited agreement
The current contract for West Allis-West Milwaukee teachers expires June 30.
Rather than negotiate a new contract, the district in early May asked teachers to consider a limited agreement for the 2011-'12 school year. The school board approved the memorandum of understanding last week.
The agreement aims to avoid a layoff of 175 to 200 teachers, said Superintendent Kurt Wachholz. The district is required to give layoff notices by June 1.
The pact requires teachers to pay 10% toward health insurance premiums and higher deductibles and/or co-pays on a plan design change that saves 15% to 20% over the current plan. It requires them to pay into the Wisconsin Retirement System; reduces retirement benefits through a graduated retirement plan; and creates a district-developed employee handbook for all issues not addressed in the agreement.
It discontinues the practice of union dues being taken from employee paychecks. It also includes a 1% salary increase. Inflation-rate wage increases would be allowed under the collective bargaining bill.
"It is a very unique document for very unique times," said Sandy Nass, executive director of the West Suburban Council, which bargains for the West Allis-West Milwaukee Education Association, a teachers union.
Nass said the agreement "goes much deeper" than concessions required by the collective bargaining bill. The district is facing a $9.5 million funding shortfall, due to cuts in funding and declining enrollment.
The concessions allow the district to protect reasonable class sizes, teaching positions and programs, Nass said.
The Menomonee Falls School Board took a different approach, approving a two-year contract to replace one that expires June 30, despite the protests of about 100 residents at the meeting.
Negotiations for a new contract began last October, said Superintendent Keith Marty. The district and teachers union had been considering a change in insurance carriers to save the district money before the collective bargaining bill was introduced, he said.
With anticipated state aid cuts, the district faced a $5 million deficit, Marty said. The insurance contract expires June 30, and the district is required to give 30 days' notice of a switch.
Switching from WEA Trust to Humana will save the district $1.3 million per year. Teachers will contribute 8% to 15% of the premium.
The second year of the new contract also includes merit pay language and language to guide layoffs away from seniority, Marty said.
By requiring teachers to pay their share of the retirement plan as of July 1, the district saved another $1.5 million per year, he said.
"Our decision was driven by what a lot of other districts have already done," said Marty. "We weren't trying to make a political statement, but to do what's right for our school district, our kids and our programs."
Pact rejected
Teachers and support staff last week rejected an agreement proposed by the Arrowhead School District to change insurance carriers to save money, and to require retirement plan contributions. The district has proposed switching from WEA Trust to United Health Care.
Superintendent Craig Jefson said the unions want to discuss other work rules, "so we're going to continue to talk with them, continue to keep an eye on Madison and what's transpiring there, and work toward trying to resolve this matter in the best interest of all the stakeholders."
The Wauwatosa School District was facing a possible layoff of as many as 100 teachers, with a layoff deadline notice of June 1. Its teachers union approved an interim agreement that keeps retirement benefits the same for a year, but freezes wages, increases deductibles for the district's self-funded health insurance plan, and includes all the concessions of the collective bargaining law, according to the district. Teachers will pay a higher percentage of health insurance premiums and contribute to their retirement plans.
The union contract covering Wauwatosa teachers expires June 30.
"The interim agreement allowed us to make a staffing plan," said Dan Chanen, director of human resources. "We're in a new era where we're operating under current law, guessing what the law is going to be for the next few years. We settled all the economic factors and said when we figure out what the law's going to be, we'll either finish bargaining what hasn't been settled - or not."
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