Most school districts still in teacher talks

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 17, 2009 by Taylor Atkins

By Taylor Atkins

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

As expected by the Kansas Association of School Boards, districts across the state are agreeing to significantly smaller increases in teacher salary packages compared to the past few years.

But Jim Hays, a research specialist for KASB, said that is where the expectations for 2009-10 contract negotiations stop.

Experts don't know what will happen, he said, when teachers and districts try to settle in the face of such economically turbulent times.

"The budget cuts for education were immense," said Hays, who helps track settlements for the state's 293 school districts. "This is uncharted territory."

About 17 percent of Kansas school districts had completed contract negotiations as of Friday, with the average total package valued at $36,910, an increase of 1.3 percent from 2008-09. In contrast, the average value of a teacher's salary package increased about 4 percent each of the past two years.

The value of the salary package includes pay schedule, meaning automatic raises an educator gets for years of service or advanced degrees; the value of benefits, such as health care costs; and the cost of supplemental contracts, such as extra money for coaching basketball.

The value is a calculation of what an average returning teacher could expect to receive.

In the past, Hays said, 17 percent of districts reporting would be enough to identify the overall trend. This year, however, it is only a starting point.

For instance, the highest increase so far is 6.5 percent, the settlement reported from Frontenac Unified School District 249, a district with about 822 students north of Pittsburg in southeast Kansas.

The lowest increase is zero percent, meaning even the scheduled raises for years of service were frozen, a predicament already reported in 15 school districts.

"We always have somebody at zero. This year we have quite a few," Hays said. "Are we are seeing the zeros because they're the first ones to come in? The district said, 'Hey, we're done. There is nothing to negotiate.' Are we seeing all the zeros we're going to get? We don't know."

And KASB may not know for some time. As with the value of the contract, Hays said how long it takes to agree to the contract is unpredictable as well.

By law, teachers must continue working under the previous year's settlement if negotiations aren't complete by the start of the school year.

The last of the 2008-09 settlements didn't come in until May. Lawrence USD 497 holds the record for late completion after once failing to agree on contracts until June 30, six hours before the end of the fiscal year.

Hays said his assumption is that when money is tight, contracts will be settled fast because there is nothing to negotiate or the focus will turn to nonmonetary issues in the contract, such as how sick days are handled, prolonging the negotiations several months.

No Shawnee County school districts have completed contract talks. A complete list of the 53 districts that have reported settlements can be found at www.kasb.org. It is updated every Friday.

Taylor Atkins can be reached

at (785) 295-1187

or taylor.atkins@cjonline.com.