Teachers, school district resume contract talks

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 8:48 a.m.

Clark County school administrators and teachers -- at the urging of the arbitrator assigned to decide their salary dispute -- are taking one more crack at mediation, district officials said Monday.

This is the first attempt at mediation since last August, when teachers and administrators gave up after months of unproductive talks.

The arbitrator is allowed to insist on another attempt at mediation before he begins hearing testimony from the two sides, said Edward Goldman, superintendent of the Clark County School District's southeast region. Since the proceedings began Thursday, the arbitrator has gone back and forth between the two sides trying to broker a deal, Goldman said.

So far, no agreement has been reached, said Goldman, who declined to discuss the specifics of what the district has offered.

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, also declined to specify the union's demands.

"This is a slow, deliberate process," Holloway said. "We're moving forward step by step, and we're optimistic that we will prevail."

If the final attempt at mediation fails, the arbitrator will hear testimony from both sides. The arbitrator then makes a ruling, usually within 60 days.

Sources close to the arbitration said the teachers' union is seeking a 2 percent pay increase on top of a 2 percent cost-of-living pay increase already promised by Gov. Kenny Guinn. District officials are considering the union's demands but would prefer to see the pay hike delayed until the 2003-04 fiscal year, sources said.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the teachers have gone to arbitration over their contract terms. Last year, an arbitrator ruled that the district would have to boost its payments to the teachers' health plan and also provide a 1 percent, one-time bonus to employees. In order to fulfill the arbitrator's ruling, the district had to dip into its rainy-day fund and also increase class size, according to Walt Rulffes, the district's deputy superintendent for finance.

District officials say there is simply no money left this time around for pay increases, pointing to the $12.6 million in cuts to programs and services for the 2002-03 budget.

A 1 percent pay raise across the board comes to about $10 million a year, Goldman said.

"Our books are open to the public and we welcome the scrutiny," Goldman said. "We challenge anyone to find the money."

John Jasonek, executive director of the education association representing about 10,000 of Clark County's teachers, has called the district's fiscal practices "voodoo budgeting." District officials always manage to find the money to fund pet projects, but claim empty coffers when it comes to pay raises, Jasonek said.

Teachers are frustrated by the district's failure to negotiate in good faith, Jasonek said.