Detroit teachers union OKs contract deal with school district

[Zacha341]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...te=fullarticle

BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY AND GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

The Detroit Federation of Teachers approved a controversial contract agreement with the Detroit Public Schools that requires most union members to defer $10,000 in pay.

The vote results -- 3,578 to 2,031 -- were released early today.

The contract promises to repay the $10,000 to the employees upon their departure from the district. The $10,000 concession will be deducted from paychecks over the next two years – but some hourly workers, such as substitute teachers, are exempt.

“This is the fairest contract we could’ve gotten in troubled times,� said Lenore Ellery, special education teacher at the Jerry L. White Center.

The contract also calls for a wide-range of school reforms including selecting a team of veteran teachers to evaluate teachers; the option to vote - by building - for shared decision-making with administrators; and an incentive program for staffs that reach agreed-upon goals.

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager released a statement via e-mail just before 1:30 a.m. saying the contract recognizes how important teachers are to improving performance in the schools.

"This is a new day for Detroit's school children," Bobb wrote. "We can now move forward together to implement in Detroit the educational reforms that have been beneficial elsewhere in ensuring student success. ... I applaud the teachers for taking the time to carefully review all of the details of the package, especially in an environment when so many parties sought to foster misinformation."

High-priority schools will be created, allowing the option for extended school hours for those struggling schools. The union members also will pay more in healthcare premiums and co-pays. They will receive a 1% pay raise in the third contract year, 2011-12.

The financially-struggling school district will be able to use the deferred wages to pay bills while the 3-year contract will save the district an estimated $62.8 million.

The contract passed after two weeks of controversy and in-fighting. Union members had responded to the deal with vehement, angry outcries when it was presented at a meeting at Cobo Hall on Dec. 6. Dissatisfaction with the contract offer sparked an effort to recall the DFT president Keith Johnson who called the agreement “the best� anyone could negotiate considering the district’s deficit is at least $219 million.

Steve Conn, a math teacher at Cass Technical High, said the recall effort has collected 800 of 1,000 needed signatures to force re-vote on Johnson’s presidency.

“We are going to fight tooth and nail, continue to fight for public education,� said Conn, a vocal opponent of the contract. “They will not be able to implement this anywhere in a real way.�

Some members accused Johnson of voting irregularities including wrongly placing information on the ballot about the dangers of a no vote.

At least two schools received ballots delivered late, some ballots were sent to closed schools and some rosters needed to be updated, all problems that Johnson said were resolved before the Dec. 18 voting deadline.

Some ballots were thrown out because they were defaced with extraneous writing, for example, scrawled with words such as “hell no.�

“These are veteran teachers and they’re professionals so they should have known not to deface a ballot,� Johnson said.

Johnson said Thursday he would accept the union’s decision if members decide to recall him. But he maintained that those who objected to the contract offer did not understand that the alternative was worse - an outright pay cut.

He said there is precedence for the $10,000 “loan� to the district – in the 1980s each teacher loaned the district 10 days’ pay that was repaid one day a year over the course of 10 years, he said.

Johnson said members passed the contract despite the “lies and rhetoric� of the dissidents.

“We as a school district have to move forward now,� he said.

Contact CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY at 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com

[firstandten]

I just love it when someone defaces a ballot like writing "hell no" and the ballot gets thrown out. That really helps the cause!!. Hope the person wasn't a social studies/history teacher.

The contract was a hold-your-nose, bite-your lip and go ahead and vote for it kind of contract. This was like some of the decisions President Obama says he has to make. Choose between a bad choice and a worst choice. That doesn't necessarily mean that Keith Johnson did a bad job. He probably did a good job given the fact that the only leverage he had was to have his membership commit economic suicide. Being the responsible leader that he is, he chose a more difficult path . If he and his team really came up with the $10,000 loan then that was some out of the box thinking. I don't think Bobb would have had any problem sticking a 10% across the board cut or failing that, filing bankruptcy and blowing up all union management agreements as a result.

[English]

Good for the Detroit teachers, and congrats to Keith Johnson and the DFT for staying intact. I thought this was going to get very ugly.

I'm sure that many of my old friends at Cass Tech were part of the more than 2,000 "no" votes, including my old union rep Steve Conn. I know he's a controversial figure in Detroit education, but Steve really went to bat for me back in 04-05 and tried hard to save my job.

[Zacha341]

It will be interesting to see if some of the rank and file [[and others - who don't even work for DPS) will pursue their lawsuit re. vote counting, and the ballot language etc. There is a petition afoot to remove Johnson from his position as well......

Good for the Detroit teachers, and congrats to Keith Johnson and the DFT for staying intact. I thought this was going to get very ugly.

I'm sure that many of my old friends at Cass Tech were part of the more than 2,000 "no" votes, including my old union rep Steve Conn. I know he's a controversial figure in Detroit education, but Steve really went to bat for me back in 04-05 and tried hard to save my job.

[DetroitTeacher]

I don't want to be part of anything involving Steve Conn. He is sometimes dangerous [[remember, he took kids out of school to protest something and was suspended). I don't agree with his methods and he scares the dickens out of me [[too radical, I guess). People had their minds made up before they voted and I don't think the language on the ballot was any different than in previous years.