Greetings,
Clarifying the Realignment Issue
On Thursday, July 19th, the district sent an e-mail concerning layoffs and realignment that falsely and incompletely described the labor/management conversations around realignment. It also left the false impression that the union is responsible for the return of realignment this summer. After challenging the accuracy of the original e-mail at our contract negotiations meeting on July 20th, the district sent a "revised message."
MFT fought hard to get the district to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to prevent realignment throughout last November and December. As the district’s revised e-mail notes, I made it very clear that because of state statute regarding the “surrender” of teaching licenses, December 31 was the last day MFT could justifiably sign the MOA. MFT has been clear, forthright, and consistent on this issue (see previous “Get Actives” at:)
December 4, 2006:
December 19, 2006:
December 22, 2006:
The district never offered to sign the realignment MOA in exchange for MFT signing an MOA concerning Native Language Literacy (NLL), Language Immersion, and Heritage Language programs. The first time the district asked us to sign an MOA concerning these sites with special language programs was the middle of last month. Being supportive of unique staffing requirements, we willingly signed this MOA.
The district’s message is correct in stating that realignment is difficult for all affected. The district’s original e-mail on July 19th, however, did not help, and compromised the interest-based bargaining we are currently engaged in. The second district e-mail sent July 20th provided a truer picture of events and helped to clarify the issue.
It is our hope that we can resolve this issue of realignment permanently in the current round of negotiations. Our negotiations team is committed to continuing the interest-based collective bargaining process and will continue to work toward a tentative agreement. Additionally, MFT is committed to working with the district to make the transitions brought about by realignment and the additional layoffs as smooth as possible for all affected staff and schools.
Thanks,
Rob Panning-Miller
President, MFT59 |