Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 18, 2002 LOCAL PROGRESS...OUTSIDE HELP?

LOCAL PROGRESS

January 16th - Thirteenth Negotiations Session - 5:30 p.m. - 7:50 p.m. - The CAT team presented the Board team with a summary of the January 7th discussions concerning Section 2.10 (Evaluation) and Section 2.17 (Discipline). The Board team said it needed to caucus in order to read and discuss the language. An hour later (!!!) we resumed negotiations. After further explanation of the respective positions, agreement was reached on the two articles. The CAT agreed to type the final language to be TA'ed at the next meeting. That meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2002. At our suggestion, the two teams will attempt some preliminary discussion of the remainder of Article II following the Leadership Teaming meeting this Saturday...hopefully to expedite the negotiations process. The CAT team reminded the Board that due to the much delayed start, time was of the essence.

OUTSIDE HELP?

Speaking of "Leadership Teaming"...Beginning this afternoon at 2:00 p.m., the CAT leadership and the District leadership will sit down together at the Central Office along with representatives of the ROE, the IEA, and the ISBE.

This meeting is being held as a follow-up to a similar meeting that was held last Spring. At that meeting, state officials asked if there was anything...any obstacle...to the successful implementation of MRSH. State officials were alerted to the fact that contracts for all unions were expiring and that the District had a history of labor-management discord. At the conclusion of that meeting, CAT representatives approached the state team and suggested an "intervention" of sorts...to see if the working relationship between the CAT and the District could be improved. State officials agreed that it might be a good idea.

It had been the hope of the CAT that this process would have begun this past summer or at the beginning of the year at the latest so that contract negotiations could have been much further along, or even completed by now. Due to a variety of events, especially the changing of the Board, that did not occur. But as they say...better late than never.

The meeting will recess at 5:00 p.m. in order that the Board of Education can hold a SPECIAL MEETING. Following that meeting, Leadership Teaming will resume, concluding with a two-hour session on Saturday morning.

Hopefully an outside presence can identify the issues that are causing labor-management strife in Cairo School District Number One and bring their influence to bear on resolving those issues.