Negotiations between the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association (‘the Association”) and the Board of Education of Prince George’s County (“BOE”) over the terms of a new contract between the parties have not progressed as quickly as the Association had hoped it would. While negotiators have been meeting since late June and several times in recent weeks, agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached.

So why has it taken so long? Several factors have played and continue to play a role in the outcome of the process. First and foremost is the uncertainty in the BOE’s budget. A $15 million deficit from last year was liquidated by taking the money from the current year allocation and just a couple of weeks ago an additional $11 million shortfall was uncovered in the self-funded insurance program. These along with a recent cut in State funding, and the possibility of an additional cut from the Governor, leave our discussions involving money on shaky ground. Another reason the process has taken more time is the presence of a new negotiator for the BOE. The new appointed BOE has hired an outside law firm to handle negotiations. This has added an additional step to discussions. In the past, it was clear negotiators for the BOE had the authority and firsthand knowledge of the subjects to make a decision at the table. That no longer appears to be the case.

When negotiations began, the Association package proposed more than 50 changes to the contract. After weeks of discussion, approximately 40 items are still on the table in the Association package. Conceptually, there are about 10 agreements so far. But nothing can be promoted yet. Since, in the end, there is no agreement until a total agreement is reached one way or the other on all outstanding issues.

While the process has been slow, an important agreement that has been reached is the funding and implementation of steps or increments on schedule. Employees who are scheduled to roll up on step should have done so on the August 29 pay period.

During negotiations, the BOE’s team also presented several items to the Association for consideration. The most damaging to our members was a proposal to roll back all health related benefits by 5%. The BOE’s proposal would have changed all premium sharing arrangements from the existing 80/20% splits to 75/25% and 75/25% to 70/30%. Such a change would have hit employees hard, given the normal increase in insurance associated with claims experience and the recent deficit.

Such a proposal would have eaten up any COLA that could be negotiated. One of the main issues yet to be resolved is that of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Clearly a lot hinges on the BOE’s ability to pay and at the same time not hold employees hostage for the mismanagement of funds that has occurred. The Association is committed to reaching the best possible settlement before it makes a recommendation to the membership.

The COLA is not the only item still a part of the Association’s priorities. Additional items being discussed include:

• elementary planning time
• impact of ESEA
• itinerant teachers
• consequence of removing Unit 1 members from classroom
• errors in paychecks and procedures
• starting and ending times of schools
• floating teachers
• air quality and environmental issues

These are just some of the issues the Association is debating in negotiations. Given the positions taken by both teams, the process will not continue much longer before the Association makes a recommendation to its membership.

The next scheduled meeting of the teams is for Monday, September 8, 2003.

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