The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. —
Unless they address all of the specifics, contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
That’s why the Anderson Federation of Teachers and the old Anderson Community Schools Board of Trustees must share the blame for the recent flap over a $1,200 bonus. The benefit was written into the master contract the board and union hurriedly drafted and signed before a new board majority took over in July.
In their rush to collaborate on a contract, the union and the pro-union board didn’t think to address directly the question of whether retiring teachers would receive the bonus. Instead, union officials assumed they would, and the school board and administration assumed they wouldn’t.
What’s fair? Generally speaking what is in the contract would be fair. In this case, it’s up in the air.
It would be difficult, however, for the public to stomach more money for retiring teachers, each of whom already received a $25,000 buyout.
The administration points out that the $1,200 payment to each ACS teacher was meant to offset a 2 percent, across-the-board pay cut. Since retiring teachers were not subject to that pay cut, ACS Superintendent Felix Chow reasons, the $1,200 payment wasn’t intended for them.
Makes sense. But the AFT doesn’t think so. Union leaders filed a grievance with the new school board over the issue at an August meeting, asking that the $1,200 be paid to each of the 49 retirees who left their jobs at the end of the 2009-10 school year.
Not surprisingly, the new board rejected the grievance. The union has asked for an arbitrator to settle the case. Arbitration will cost the district from $4,000 to $6,000, according to ACS board President Scott Green. If ACS loses, the district will have to cough up $58,800 to the retirees.
That’s not a lot of money, compared to the millions of dollars that pass through the school district annually.
But it’s a costly little mistake that was made in pushing the new master contract agreement through so rapidly. The legacy of the old school board, unfortunately, will be felt in Anderson in this way and countless other ways for years to come.
