As contract talks drag on, Waconia teachers, board appear far apart

Community pressure could not do it. Neither could a state-imposed deadline, which brought a hefty fine of almost $75,000 after it was missed.

The end of the school year is in sight, but even that is not pushing teachers and administrators in the Waconia School District to reach agreement on a new two-year contract.

Still, the impasse in the Carver County town is the longest in the metro area and is threatening to become the longest in the state.

"We're always optimistic," said Brent Davis, chairman of the Waconia School Board and the lead district negotiator. "I couldn't tell you why it's taken so long, other than both sides being very strong-minded about getting what they consider the right contract."

The two sides have met more than 35 times, including two mediation sessions, without a resolution. More ominously, there are no meetings scheduled anytime soon, negotiators said.

"I guess I'm surprised at the situation we're in," said David Aeling, the lead negotiator for the Waconia Education Association, which represents more than 185 teachers.

More than 125 teachers marched to a contentious school board meeting on Feb. 11 to voice their displeasure.

"The last board meeting was pretty emotional," Davis said. "Emotions were pretty high. I think both sides are sort of cooling off.

"I am on a board that is saying, given the current economic situation, we like our teachers, but a reasonable salary is a reasonable salary," Davis said.

Davis said his side has offered the teachers 8.88 percent in increases to pay and benefits over two years, and that the teachers have countered with a request of more than 14 percent.

Teacher negotiators said those figures are misleading. They said that under the district's offer, wages for most teachers would not increase at all during the first year and by less than 1 percent during the second year. Almost all of the additional money would go to pay higher benefit costs, they said.

Meanwhile, union officials say, the district's administrative pay has risen more than 10 percent in recent years, making Waconia administrators among the highest paid in their area.

At the same time, they say, teachers' salaries have grown more slowly than neighboring districts, leaving Waconia teachers' pay among the lowest. An official with the Education Minnesota teachers' union told Waconia teachers earlier this month that they rank 196th in pay out of the state's nearly 350 districts.

"We're the biggest district in our conference and we're growing," Aeling said, referring to the Wright County athletic conference. "Their proposal would drop us to dead last in our conference."

Waconia is one of 15 districts in the state that have not reached a settlement on new two-year contracts.

State education officials say they are not surprised so many districts are taking so long to reach settlements, given how many were still negotiating right up to the deadline.

Down to the wire, and beyond

"The fact that so many districts went right down to the wire this year is a symptom of a crisis that has been building for several years and has come to a head in 2008," Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher said in a statement last month.

Dooher said that inadequate state funding combined with soaring health care costs made bargaining extremely difficult. Statewide, 147 local unions and districts requested state mediation, compared with 111 during the last round of bargaining.

That group included Waconia, which had a second mediation session in St. Paul earlier this month. Although there was optimism that the mediation might lead to a settlement, that didn't happen.

"I think the breakdown came from the process," Aeling said. "I believe the teacher's union honored that and the board side did not negotiate in good faith."

At the contentious school board meeting, Davis was called uncreative and teachers were angry because they felt the board was not respecting them and was making them beg for a pay increase.

"I've been on the board four years and been in the district for four years before that," Davis said. "We have a strong union, and perhaps a union that is used to having its way."

Aeling scoffs at that. He said teachers have conceded to the district during the past few contracts, not pushing for higher pay increases because the district told them that it did not have the money.

Now, Aeling said, the district is sitting on more than $2 million in its coffers and the teachers would like some of that to be used to make up for past sacrifices on their behalf.

"I think this is ... more than economic," Aeling said. "They are sitting on a $2.28 million fund balance. They've got the funds to settle on a fair wage for the teachers."

Davis also angered many teachers when he said this month that teachers are only obligated to work 1,288 hours a year, which means their hourly wage is pretty good.

That drew a rebuke from the union, which said teachers work many more hours checking homework, drawing up lesson plans and preparing for each day in class.

The dispute has left the community divided as it awaits the outcome, especially as the end of school nears and the possibility of a strike increases.

"We have a strong community, pretty tight knit, and I know it's being discussed," Davis said. "But people seem to understand that as the economy has slowed a bit, you need to take the time to do the right thing.

"I guess we'll see where the ultimate contract ends up, but we have some work to do to bridge the gap between us."

Herón Márquez Estrada • 612-673-4280