February 10, 2024 / By mobanmarket
ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Alexandria School Board authorized the collective bargaining process to begin as some teachers expressed concern with the draft ordinance.
The ordinance is not final, as the School Board’s Thursday action starts the collective bargaining process. The draft resolution is proposed to go to the School Board on Feb. 22, followed by a public hearing on Feb. 29, work session on March 14 and final action on March 21.
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Legislation from the Virginia General Assembly that took effect on May 1, 2021 allowed public sector employees in localities to negotiate collective bargaining agreements with their employers. School Board Chair Michelle Rief said the board adopted a resolution in December 2021 to research collective bargaining and adopt an ordinance in the future. After turnover of School Board members and the superintendent, the School Board resumed discussion last year and formed a committee to draft a collective bargaining resolution.
The draft resolution has drawn criticism from the Education Association of Alexandria, a teachers union representing Alexandria City Public Schools employees. The union is pushing for collective bargaining for all staff, while the proposed ordinance would not offer it to administrators, human resources employees and financial services employees. Education Association of Alexandria is also opposed to the ordinance’s limits on what the union can negotiate in the collective bargaining process and the required threshold for participation in a collective bargaining unit election.
Monica Pendergast mentioned several situations in which her responsibilities have gone beyond teaching. She noted when Cora Kelly School had a lockdown on Jan. 24, she had to make quick decisions to keep kids calm and safe. Another case was that she was the main teacher responding to a student suffering an aneurysm on the playground a few years ago. Pendergast said she lost sleep over thinking what she could’ve done better in both situations.
“Beyond teaching students we are put into positions that can literally be life or death,” said Pendergast. “The amount of tasks and responsibilities are limitless, yet we will be limited in the topics that we can negotiate [in the collective bargaining process]. We’re asked to be flexible on a daily basis, but there’ll be no flexibility with negotiating current school board policies, rules and regulations. We teach our students about democracy, though the resolution proposes election barriers, such as a participation threshold.”
James Rutigliano, a 2nd grade teacher at Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School, said a collective bargaining agreement will help attract more talented teachers to ACPS.
“Without a fair agreement, I and others like me will leave ACPS we will simply not be able to stay in ACPS for the entirety of our teaching careers due to unfair working conditions,” said Rutigliano. “It’s imperative that you pass a fair and equitable collective bargaining resolution and agreement.”
David Paladin-Fernandez, a teacher who has testified about collective bargaining 15 times, believes ACPS has prioritized budget increases for the central office over teachers in the classrooms. He called for a 3 percent cost of living salary adjustment for teachers.
“We are asking you to reward educators because the people who are willing to do the work regardless of pay are the ones who deserve the sweetest rewards,” said Paladin-Fernandez.
Nick Hildebidle, a 14-year teacher who has been at ACPS for five years, said requiring signatures from 30 percent of a bargaining unit to get to electing a bargaining unit is “undemocratic.”
“I taught in a school district that had a strong union and a well-developed contract between the union and the district,” said Hildebidle. “In my experience, collective bargaining provides a framework that allows educators and their school leadership to work together as effectively as possible to enable their student success.”
Some School Board members believe the draft ordinance needs work and collaboration with the teachers union.
School Board member Abdel Elnoubi said he didn’t agree with everything in the draft ordinance but said it’s a starting point.
“I just want to say to our teachers who and everyone who spoke today, this is we’re just starting we’re just getting started,” said Elnoubi. “This is just a starting point. So it’s going to be a public process and a public conversation. And what we have right now is just a draft, and I personally speak for myself right now, it’s a draft.”
Rief agreed that there is more work to do on the proposal with input from stakeholders.
“But at the end of the day, I think we really want our teachers to know that we value you, we appreciate you,” said Rief. “One of the things I value about our public education system is that it is a democratic system. And so that’s something that’s very important to me, and I think having staff members with at the table and part of the decision-making is absolutely critical.”
School Board member Tim Beaty called for a “direct conversation between the board and the EAA about the draft resolution” beyond a public hearing. Rief said the committee will discuss that suggestion but noted Virginia code requires other groups to have a fair shot at being the exclusive bargaining unit representative.
On Thursday, the School Board also held an add/delete session for the proposed ACPS budget. Elnoubi noted on social media that one of the approved budget amendments would provide 2 percent market rate adjustment salary increases for all staff and boost staff who missed a step up one step.
Budget adoption is scheduled for Feb. 22, and ACPS funding will then be allocated through the city government’s budget process. The School Board will pass a final budget on June 6 once the city’s budget is approved.
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