District, teachers reach deal

Benjamin Grove

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.

The Clark County School District and its teachers apparently have reached an agreement in salary negotiations after a year of meetings, the most protracted talks in district history.

Chief negotiators on both sides declined to offer details of the agreement until an arbitrator approves it, which should come in a few days.

Negotiators on both sides said they were relieved the exhaustive talks are over.

"I'm upbeat about this whole thing," district Superintendent Brian Cram said. "In my opinion, (the arbitrator) brought both sides together."

John Jasonek, chief negotiator for the teachers, said, "I would hope that we've all learned from this process. It's a painful process. It's a tedious, time-consuming process. It takes two sides to come to the table."

The primary sticking point seemed to be a 1 percent pay increase.

District administrators had offered teachers a 3.25 percent increase retroactive for last year and 3.25 percent for the coming school year. In addition, the district offered a 1 percent bonus for each of the two years.

The Clark County Classroom Teachers Association wanted that 1 percent permanently added to salaries, not as bonus for just two years.

Both sides had been unable to reach a compromise after months of talks, including meetings with a mediator. Talks broke down in April, and both sides called in an arbitrator. Nevada law bans teacher strikes.

Oakland-based arbitrator Franklin Silver had been expected to hear both sides July 20, 21 and 22 and render an all-or-nothing decision that sided with either the teachers or the district. He could not craft a compromise.

"The arbitrator has something the mediator doesn't," Jasonek explained. "It's called leverage. You don't get to split babies. You have a lot to gain and a lot to lose."

But after three days, arbitrator Silver sent both sides back to the negotiating table, ordering them to make a final attempt at striking a deal on their own. Not wanting to leave everything in the hands of Silver, both sides crafted a compromise in the past few days.

"Our major differences have disappeared," Cram said Thursday.

On Thursday, the School Board held a special meeting and approved the undisclosed deal the between the two groups in a 5-0 vote. Board members Larry Mason and Ruth Johnson were absent. The deal becomes final, and details become public, when Silver approves it.

Jasonek offered only vague hints about the deal.

"We wouldn't settle for anything that had a bonus in it," he said. "We're comfortable with where we're at. The arbitrator led the two sides to a different place."

Contract negotiations for the 1999-2000 school year begin in about six months.