Arbitrator to decide on raises for teachers

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 10:21 a.m.

On the question of pay raises, Clark County's teachers say yes, school district officials say no -- and today an impartial arbitrator will begin the process of deciding which side is right.

This is the fifth consecutive year that the question will be answered by an arbitrator, who hears arguments from both sides before handing down a binding ruling. Past attempts at mediation have failed, in part, union leaders say, because the school district has yet to offer its teachers a pay increase.

"Mediation only works when both sides are trying to give a little," said Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, which represents about 12,000 of the district's 14,000 teachers.

School district officials say there is no money for raises, which would total $10 million for a 1 percent increase for all employees. In the past, when one union has negotiated a pay increase the same raise is given across the board, said Edward Goldman, superintendent of the district's southeast region.

Last year, an arbitrator ordered the district to give teachers a one-time 3 percent bonus, which was paid for using money from a rainy day fund and by increasing class sizes, Clark County schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia said. The district has already cut $12.6 million in programs and services from the 2002-03 budget, and Garcia said he "shuddered to think" what would be eliminated next.

Talks between the union and the district broke down last winter after months of discussion. Since then, there have been flare-ups in the form of picket lines outside of school board meetings, along with teachers waiting in campus parking lots until the clock hit their contracted start times.

The union also became more aggressive as the arbitration date drew closer, mounting a radio spot campaign that urged listeners to call the provided telephone number to the school district office and complain about the exodus of good teachers. Last week, the union held a press conference to denounce what executive director John Jasonek called the district's "voodoo budgeting."

"There's always money for pet projects but never money for paying teachers what they deserve," Jasonek said.

Holloway declined to say exactly how much the union is seeking this time around, saying an update would be provided to members Friday after the first day of arbitration.

Beginning next month, teachers will start receiving their 2 percent cost-of-living pay increase funded by the state for the coming school year.