A teachers union grievance filed in Jasper over two extra work days scheduled for the 2010-11 school year is further evidence of the ISTA’s unwillingness to help schools get through the education funding crisis.
The Jasper Classroom Teachers Association, a local subsidiary of the ISTA, balked when the school board adopted a calendar last month that requires teachers to work the full 183 days that their salary is based on.
Teachers in Jasper have traditionally worked only 181 of the 183 days called for in their collective bargaining agreement, JCTA President Nikki Roberts told the Washington Times-Herald. And the union obviously wants to keep it that way.
Last month the union issued a letter of protest over the new school calendar to Jasper Superintendent Jerrill Vandeventen, then filed formal grievance paperwork. The union is currently trying to arrange a hearing on the matter in front of the school board.
By our calculations, it costs the corporation at least $50,000 to employ teachers for the two days. That might not be much in the pricey world of school finance, but every penny counts in the wake of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ announcement that $300 million in state school aid is about to be eliminated.
School board President Nancy Habig told the Times-Herald that the corporation simply can’t justify paying teachers for days they don’t work, particularly in the face of the impending budget cuts.
It’s difficult to refute Habig’s common-sense argument, yet the ISTA is giving it a shot.
We dug for a reason behind the union’s gripe and this is the best we could find: Teachers were not required to work the two days in the past, so they shouldn’t have to now. Weak.
We think it’s sad that the ISTA remains so detached from the financial realities hitting Indiana’s school corporations. The sooner the union catches on the better.
In the meantime, fleecing a school corporation for money that teachers aren’t entitled to is a serious step in the wrong direction.