CAT Tracks for March 26, 2002 BY THE NUMBERS...THEIR NUMBERS

Bargaining teams for the CAT and the Board met last night for almost 3 hours...well, make that 1 hour...with a 2-hour caucus by the Board team!

CAT Chief Negotiator Steve Kohn turned our attention towards money last night. After doing his "homework" by reviewing the District's Annual Financial Report (AFR) for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2001 and the budget for this fiscal year, he presented the Board's team with a handout of basic figures...and give Steve credit...he knows his (or should I say THEIR) numbers!

During Wednesday's CAT General Membership Meeting, you will receive a copy of the FACTS. Briefly: The District budgeted almost $275,000 MORE for teacher salaries this year than it did last year...even though the District has LESS TEACHERS! This reduction of teachers from last year (through attrition - NOT RIFs) saved the District almost $164,000. This is a net difference of over $438,000! Let me repeat that...In the budget that the District filed with the state this year, they said that they were going to spend $438,000 more than they are actually paying us. If they were padding the budget in anticipation of having to give us a raise...it would be a 17% raise!

We assured the Board team that we were NOT asking for, or expecting, a 17% raise...BUT that we did expect a fair and equitable settlement.

When Steve pressed the Board team for confirmation of his figures, the Superintendent agreed...with reservations...citing "soft money"...money from grants that are not "guaranteed". Well, excuse me! Nothing is guaranteed...HOWEVER "soft money" (albeit by constantly changing names) has been around for as long as I have been here...and that is a loooooooong time! AND...we are talking contract for THIS YEAR, which is rapidly coming to a close. We KNOW what "soft money" we are receiving...have received. There is no great mystery here!

The Board team indicated that they needed time to come up with a response to the numbers...AGAIN...THEIR NUMBERS! We said that we needed to move the process...needed confirmation or denial during this meeting. The Board team then requested a caucus for that purpose. The time was 6:28 p.m.

At 8:15...almost 2 hours later!...the federal mediator came and got us...stating that the Board was ready. After a few minutes of (weak) denial of the accuracy of Steve's numbers, the Board team stated that they were going to have to get back to us! This prompted a little (justified) sarcasm from a member of our team..."You cut a bunch of people last week, and you don't know the numbers!?"

The Board team assured us that they would have answers for us at the next meeting...and suggested Saturday, March 30th. We accepted...on the condition that they make a commitment to negotiate for as long as necessary to reach an agreement. (At the last "Saturday" meeting, the Board began the 10 a.m. meeting by stating that they had other commitments at 1 p.m.) The Board team told us that they would keep their schedule open for Saturday and meet "till midnight" if necessary!