For years the leaders of the Tucson Education Association have bargained with the Tucson Unified School District administration in favor of a few, for a few. This has resulted in an inequitable salary structure that cheats long time teachers of the same rate of pay as that offered to incoming teachers with the same level of experience.
No one can explain why the union has been allowed to bargain with the district after it was known that it represents far less than half of the District’s teachers. According to officials, the administrations over the years have allowed it in order to keep the favor of other unions such as the Teamsters, and AFSCME. The vast majority of the teachers who opted out of membership understood that the union did not represent them, but crawled into bed with politicians on the Board who paid lip service, took care of a few friends, and by and large ignored the needs of the classrooms… and those in them.
Although teachers in TUSD make on average more than their peers across southern Arizona, the compression created over the years from the deal cutting is not only inequitable, it has destroyed confidence in the district and its leadership and morale is very low.
According to a thoughtful analysis prepared by one District administrator, TUSD has historically hired certified staff from outside the district at higher rates than similarly experienced current TUSD employees. TEA/TUSD salary agreements have created multiple compression events that make the salary schedule unfair.
There is no question that the certified salary schedule must be overhauled. The unanswered question is whether the Board, the administration and the TEA have the desire to rebuild it and stop playing political games.
With the Arizona Legislature’s increase in funding to K-12 education, TUSD will receive about $4.1 million in additional funding, according to Board member Mark Stegeman.
Stegeman wrote to constituents that during last Tuesday’s discussion of how to spend the $4.1 million, five other ideas were discussed including the mitigation of salary compression.
He explained that many publicly funded educational institutions show patterns similar to TUSD’s in that similar new educators earn more than those hired a few years earlier. “The salaries for new employees rise to keep pace with market conditions, but the competitive salary pressure is weaker for persons who are already employed and not actively seeking new jobs,” explained Stegeman.
If recent Board actions are any indication, the games will continue and the inequities will remain.
As an example of the sort of inexplicable decision making that leads to the inequities the new superintendent recommended restoring $175,000 of the Preventative Maintenance budget. Stegeman and Board member Hicks tried to double that figure to $350,000, which according to Stegeman would have saved the jobs of at least half of the Preventative Maintenance employees. While members of AFSCME supported the restoration of PM funds, in what Stegeman described as “one of the most ironic votes since I have joined the board, the amendment to double the restoration of PM funds failed 2-3, with all three of the labor-endorsed board members voting no.”
There is little rhyme or reason behind the Board’s decisions. They can only be understood when you know all the machinations behind the scenes.
There are so many machinations that it is unlikely the classrooms teachers’ interests will ever be represented in direct proportion to the value they bring to the District and what is left of its ability to attract new students.
“The Tucson Education Association never really cared to do its legally mandated job and represent all teachers employed by TUSD. The TUSD administration…just like many other school district administrations across the country…is more interested in attracting new teachers with a decent initial salary than in retaining teachers already employed by TUSD through maintaining a competitive compensation structure that recognizes that veteran teachers are more skilled and more effective at teaching TUSD students;” said Rich Kronberg long time educator and former NEA and NEA-Alaska leader. “They would sooner drive out veteran teachers …and replace them with beginners right out of college…even though data is clear that veteran teachers are more effective at teaching students than novices.
“It is no wonder that so many members of the teacher bargaining unit are ex-members of the Tucson Education Association. It is no mystery why the district continues to recognize TEA as the exclusive bargaining agent for Tucson’s teachers. They are, in essence, a “company union” that acts publicly to support the TUSD administration even when the administration’s actions are harming members of the bargaining unit it represents. How else can we explain TEA’s complete silence when TUSD lays off hundreds of teachers in order to hire a few more administrators?” asked Kronberg. “This situation is likely to continue until TUSD teachers are upset enough to mount a legal challenge to the status of TEA as the exclusive bargaining agent for Tucson’s teachers.”