Education Intelligence Agency

Public Education Research, Analysis and Investigations

Interesting provisions from current public school collective bargaining agreements.

Section 10.2.2 - Attendance Incentive: "Additionally, unit members who have perfect attendance for each fiscal year will receive a bonus of two-hundred ($200) dollars."

Section 11.12.2. - Site Dress Codes: "Prior to implementation, any dress code must be approved in a secret ballot election, by two thirds (2/3) of the unit members at the site."

Section 19.1.3.4. - Layoff of Probationary Unit Members: "Ties in seniority shall be broken by lot."

Section 31.1.4. and 5. - Process for Approval of Charter Schools: "The Association shall be included as a Party to the district review process of the proposed charter and may submit any comments and/or recommendations of the Association when the proposed charter is presented to the Board of Education.

"The District agrees to amend its charter approval procedures to urge that petitioners who desire to waive all or portions of the collective bargaining agreement discuss their concerns with the Association prior to submission of the proposed charter to the Board of Education."

June 16, 2005 Memorandum of Understanding: "Lesson plans, when required to be submitted, shall allow for individualized formats. If a standardized format is identified, then the supervisor shall meet with any unit member that (sic) needs to submit the lesson plan in an alternative format. The supervisor and unit member shall work together to mutually establish a format that contains common lesson plan elements and meets the purpose for which the lesson plans are being submitted.

"Should agreement not be achieved, recommendations from a third party shall be solicited. The supervisor and unit member shall attempt to mutually agree upon the third party. Failing agreement, the administrator's supervisor shall select an appropriate third party from any of the following categories of job classifications: teacher, specialist, consultant, coordinator, director, or assistant director. The third party shall make recommendations to the supervisor and unit member.

"If the recommendations of the third party do not resolve the disagreement, the administrator's supervisor, in consultation with the Contract Administration Committee, shall make the final decision after considering the recommendations of the third party, and if requested, meeting the with the supervisor and unit member."

January 19, 2006 Memorandum of Understanding: "The District will provide the following compensation to certificated unit members who were required to pack and unpack their classrooms/work space to facilitate the cohabitation of Einstein Charter School at the Brooklyn Site and the mid-year transfer/closing of Brooklyn and removal of the educational program to the new Golden Hill site:

"1. Unit members will be compensated four (4) hours for every three (3) hours of time they pack or unpack related to classroom moves during the 2005/2006 instructional program."

Article VI - Paid leaves of absence. A.3.: "Following the birth of a child, the teacher giving birth may remain on leave, either paid or unpaid up to six (6) calendar weeks following the date of the natural birth or up to eight (8) calendar weeks following the date of the Cesarean birth without providing a doctor's statement."

Article XIII - Insurance. A. Life and Disability Insurance. 1.: "The Board will provide each full-time teacher a $50,000 life insurance policy, a $50,000 ADD policy, and a long-term disability policy to pay 66 2/3% of salary or $3,000 a month, whichever is less. The cost for this coverage will be $1.00 per year per policy per member."

Article XIV. Teacher Evaluation, 14.1. Purpose: "The District's evaluation program is divided into an accountability strand and a professional growth strand. Neither strand shall be used as a basis for establishing a merit pay system."

Article XVI. Statements/Actions During Negotiations: "The Trustees and Administrators of School District No. 1 and the HEA jointly agree that there shall be no reprisal or recrimination against one another for statements made or actions engaged in during negotiations."

Article 8. Dues Deduction, 8-4: "Any teacher desiring to have the School District discontinue deductions previously authorized must notify the Association in writing between July 1 and July 15 of each year for the next school year's dues..."

Article 17. Temporary Leaves of Absence, 17-1-1: Grants leave totaling 250 school days for union reps to attend meetings, conferences and conventions. An additional 150 days of union leave are available to be used at the union's discretion, plus 50 more school days for the use of the union's Community Foundation.

Article 26, Professional Compensation, 26-19: "The District may recognize up to a maximum of six (6) years of experience (Step 7) for those Teachers who while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces went to formal instructor training and taught full-time in a military training program." (Hey! This would get me four extra years on the salary scale.)

Article 19. Non-Instructional Duties, paragraph A.2.c): "Teachers will exercise reasonable and prudent care of collected money therefore shall not be held responsible when required to collect money from students if said money is stolen before a time when said teachers could reasonable have deposited the money with the office. Securing money in a locked drawer is considered reasonable care."

Article 23. Political: "All employees will have freedom of political action provided such action is within the laws of the United States and New Mexico, and will refrain from exploiting the institutional privileges of their professional positions."

Article 40. Negotiation Procedure, paragraph 6: "No electronic recorders will be used."

Article IX, Reductions in Force - Recall, C: "When two (2) or more teachers have the same length of service, the teacher who signed his or her individual contract with the School Corporation on the earliest date shall be considered senior. If two (2) or more teachers signed their individual contract on the same date, then the teacher with the earliest birth date shall be considered senior."

Article XV, Miscellaneous Provisions, D: "The Association, as the representative employee's organization, shall also have the exclusive right to use school mailboxes, and any equipment on school premises including, but not limited to, computers, word processors, fax machines, duplicating equipment, calculating machines, all types of audio-visual equipment, voicemail, and e-mail."

Article VI, Subdivision 6.3.3 Previous Teaching Experience Credit: "A teacher will not be given credit in excess of his/her teaching experience or education."

Article XIV refers to layoffs as "unrequested leave."

Article 30 D. 3: "For the 2005-06 school year, the Association will be granted two-thousand dollars ($2,000) to create teacher leadership positions/opportunities that will enhance student achievement."

Most contracts are silent on this issue, but this one explicitly recognizes the right of both parties to place whomever they want on their negotiating teams. Some enterprising school districts have used similar provisions to place parents or other community members on their side of the bargaining table.

Article 16:1.6 Seniority, Layoff, and Recall: "In the event two or more employees have the same seniority date the following criteria shall be used in the order enumerated as tiebreakers:

"(a) total length of teaching service in New Castle County;

"(b) total length of State teaching service;

"(c) length of total teaching experience;

"(d) educational level on the salary schedule; and

"(e) lottery."

Article 25:9 Salaries and Employee Benefits, Teacher Professional Recognition: "The District recognizes and appreciates the added work, described in Appendix I, that each Teacher/Employee agrees to perform throughout the year. In recognition of this added work, each Teacher/Employee shall receive a total of $400, to be paid over the 26 pay periods in each year. It is understood that individual Teachers/Employees shall in good faith perform an activity or service described in Appendix I of this Agreement each year."

The Appendix I list of sample added work includes: new teacher mentor, workshops, district committee, academic club, test coordinator, and PR events.

Article 25:11: "Employees who work in the city of Wilmington and who are required to pay the city of Wilmington wage tax shall receive a supplement as described below as long as they continue to be subject to the City Wage tax. The supplements shall be paid in equal installments over the school year:

"Salary of $11,999 or less: $75.00

"Salary of $12,000 to $19,999: $150.00

"Salary of $20,000 to $27,999: $250.00

"Salary of $28,000 or more: $350.00"

Article 32:2 Contract Mandated Committees: "Joint committees shall normally be composed of four (4) representatives of the Association, appointed by the President, and four (4) representatives from the Administration, appointed by the Superintendent."

Article 32:2.1: "Committees shall be jointly co-chaired."

"For his/her own wedding - two (2) days. These days are limited to those school days immediately preceding, during or following the day of the wedding.

"For religious observance - three (3) days.

"For a teacher selected by the Union to serve as a delegate to a meeting of the AFL-CIO or any of its affiliates - not to exceed five (5) days per year.

"For personal business - two (2) days." There are limitations to the number of teachers who can take personal leave after long holidays.

"[T]he Superintendent may grant an additional three (3) days for personal business at the request of the teacher and each request shall receive individual consideration by the Superintendent and approval of a leave request shall not be unreasonably withheld.

"For purposes connected with the welfare of the school and/or community - not to exceed two (2) days.

"For visiting schools - one half day (.5) in each term or one (1) full day per year."

The district also offers "leave to teachers at half pay up to a maximum of five (5) days per work year and approval of said request shall not be unreasonably withheld."

Paragraph 5-11. Quarantine: "There shall be no loss of salary or sick leave allowance when a teacher is quarantined by order of the Health Department."

Paragraph 5-16. "A teacher on leave may be hired as a substitute upon his/her request. Such substitute service shall not constitute a termination of leave."

Article 7050. Auxiliary Assignments. Section IV. Paragraph E: "The following Sports Criteria Comparison Standards have been and will be used to rank sports/positions for placement within the salary matrix: : Length of Season; Number of Practices; Number of Evening, Weekend, and Vacation Contests; Number of Athletes on a Team; Program Complexity; Equipment Management."

Procedural Agreement. Article III. Procedures for Conducting Negotiations. Section F - Executive Sessions. "The parties agree to negotiate in executive sessions. Any statements made before fact finding is invoked to the general public or news media pertaining to the progress of negotiations or to the substance of any proposals submitted by either party shall be made in writing and joint releases shall be made by the President of the Association and the Superintendent. This, in no way, will limit communication to the teaching unit." (Ed. note: This provision therefore allows the union to freely communicate with the people it represents, but prevents the district from communicating with the people it represents without approval of the union.)

Article 8030. Absences. Section I - Personal Illness: "[Sick leave] may be accumulated up to 220 and 240 days, respectively, for 10 and 11 month teachers."

Section III - Death in the Family: "Two (2) school days absence with pay shall be allowed in the event of the death of an aunt, uncle, niece or nephew."

Article 10. B: "Unit members shall be relieved of the following (except on a voluntary basis):

"(1) Scoring of standardized tests where machine scoring is suitable and possible.

"(2) Stamping and numbering of books.

"(3) Originating and maintaining records of non-academic nature.

"(4) Testing of pupils' eyes and recording of eye examinations on permanent records.

"(5) Collection of and record keeping involving monies except for cafeteria monies.

"(6) Supervising student lavatories during the passing of classes as a regular part of their duties, however, both the Board and the SEA acknowledge that there will be occasions when such supervision is necessary.

"(7) Elementary unit members shall be relieved of measuring heights and weights of students and recording same on permanent records."

Article 16. I: "The President, Chairperson of the Grievance Committee, and the Chairperson of the Negotiating Committee of the SEA may, if feasible, have their unassigned period in the final period of the day. Upon receiving permission from the principal, they may leave the building."

"1. Employees will use professional judgment in determining the appropriateness of the issue to the curriculum and the maturity of students. In the presentation of all controversial issues, the employee shall make every effort to effect a balance of biases, divergent points of view, and afford an opportunity for exploration by the students into all sides of the issue. The employee’s responsibility shall be to show objectivity in order that various sides of controversial issues are given. To carry out this responsibility an employee shall be well informed in the areas being studied and present the issues in a manner in which the class perceives the objectives of the study and understands the issues involved and their implications. The appropriate administrator shall review curricular matters of a clearly controversial nature. In the event that a request for reconsideration is made of the classroom curriculum or library materials, formal procedures shall be followed as outlined in the Tahoma School District policy. A building-level decision may be appealed to the Teaching and Learning Council.

"2. In discussing controversial issues, the employee shall encourage students to express their own views, assuring that it be done in a manner that gives due respect to one another’s rights and opinions. When discussing controversial issues, the employee shall respect positions other than his/her own. Students shall be encouraged, after class discussions and independent inquiry, to reach their own conclusions regarding controversial issues.

"3. In any event materials and methods used will conform to the instructional materials policy of the District and should be appropriate to the grade and/or maturity of the students involved.

"4. The District shall make available in each building multiple copies of the District’s instructional materials policy."

Article 7B, Seniority paragraph 3: "Employees identified above will be ranked as to length of contracted service as recognized by the District. Less than a full year of experience will be recognized as to the actual number of contracted days.

"a. In the event ties exist in the application above, those employees will be ranked as to column placement on the District salary schedule.

"b. In the event ties still exist, a doctorate degree, master degree, or baccalaureate degree as recognized by the District for salary purposes, will be recognized in that order.

"c. In the event ties still exist, those employees with the greatest number of credits within the category accepted by the District toward progression on the District salary schedule will be ranked ahead of those employees with fewer credits.

"d. In the event ties still exist, the number of years of experience in A 4 will prevail.

"e. In the event ties still exist, the employee with the highest cumulative grade point average, excluding pass/fail grades, will be ranked ahead of those with lower cumulative grade point averages."

Article III K 3: "The Plymouth-Canton Board of Education will also provide the [local union] president office space in one of the buildings; provided space is available, (a space where the office can be locked and a phone can be installed for the president's use)."

Article XIX J: "In the circumstance of more than one individual teacher with the same number of service years defined as seniority in Article XIX, Section H, the individuals so affected will participate in a drawing, by lot, to determine position on the seniority list. The Personnel Office will notify the Association and teacher so affected in writing of the date, place and time of the drawing. The drawing shall be conducted openly and at a time and place which will reasonably allow affected teachers and [union] representatives to be in attendance."

305 - Civic Leave: "A teacher may be granted, at the discretion of the Superintendent, paid leave for civic and professional duties at the national, state and local level. Civic and professional duties shall be defined as being appointed to a committee, commission, or board established by the President, Congress, Governor, State Legislature, Municipality, Board, District, or national, international or local non-profit organization or serving in an elective office for a professional education association, excluding unions."

345 J. - Sick Leave: "A false statement by the teacher regarding sick leave is sufficient grounds for cancellation of the contract and recommendation for revocation of the teaching certificate."

449 C. - Reduction-In-Force: "Seniority shall be defined as length of continuous service in the bargaining unit, part-time or full-time, or a combination of both, measured from initial date of contract employment. Paid or unpaid leave or lay-off shall not be considered as interruption of service and shall be counted toward seniority. When teachers have identical hire dates, seniority shall be determined by:

"1. date of letter offering employment, or if a tie still exists;

"2. date of employment acceptance, or if a tie still exists;

"3. the drawing of lots by the affected teachers."

725 B. - Association Leave: "The District shall provide the Association one day of Association leave with pay for every 12 teachers, excluding substitutes. One hundred additional leave days will be provided for the re-negotiation of this agreement. If the Association does not utilize all of its available leave in a school year, the Association shall have the right to carry over up to 25 days each year for use by the Association in subsequent school years."

Article 7.11: "The Association agrees to defend and indemnify the Board for any cost, demands, claims, suits or liability incurred as a result of the implementation and enforcement of this provision provided that:

"(1) The Board shall give written notice within ten (10) work days of any claim made or action filed against the employer by a non-member for which defense and indemnification may be claimed;

"(2) The Association shall reserve the right to designate counsel to represent and defend the employer;

"(3) The Board agrees to (1) give full and complete cooperation and assistance to the Association and its counsel at all levels of the proceeding, (2) permit the Association or its affiliates to intervene as a party if it so desires, and/or (3) to not oppose the Association or its affiliates' application to file briefs amicus curiae in the action;

"(4) The Board acted in good faith compliance with the Fair Share Fee provision of this Agreement; however, there shall be no defense or indemnification of the Board if the Board intentionally or willfully fails to apply (except due to court order) or misapplies such Fair Share Fee provision herein."

Article 10.7(f) Negotiations Process: "The Board and the Association may admit observers to negotiation meetings.  Observers are to retain the confidentiality of the negotiations process.  Each party may have up to three (3) observers attend negotiation meetings. The Board observers are restricted to present/elect Board members and supervisors as defined in Article 1 of this Agreement. The Association observers are restricted to members of its bargaining unit as defined in Article 1 of this Agreement."

Article 14.1(c)(3): "If two (2) or more members are equal in seniority, the following criteria will be applied in lettered sequence until the tie is broken. The more senior member is:

"(a) The one who has the greater number of years (including approved leaves of absence and time spent on a RIF status) under that continuing contract.

"(b) The one who has the greater number of years of actual teaching experience in Ohio's accredited and/or chartered schools.

"(c) The one who has the greater number of years of actual teaching experience in non-Ohio accredited and/or chartered schools.

"After the above methods have been exhausted and a tie still exists, a draw will be utilized to break the tie."

"1. The Board will provide bulletin boards in the schools for the use of the Association. Location shall be determined by the Principal after receiving recommendations from the Association. Any dispute as to location can be made the subject of a grievance. Material placed on bulletin boards to which the public have access, shall be subject to the approval of the Principal or Superintendent, whose approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.

"2. Bulletin boards will be provided as follows: one (1) board to a school with a faculty of thirty-five (35) teachers or less; two (2) boards to a school with a faculty of thirty-five (35) to seventy (70) teachers; and three (3) boards to a school with a faculty of seventy (70) teachers or more. In all schools at least one (1) board will be placed in each faculty lounge and reserved faculty eating area."

Article 10 A. reads: "The Board shall provide smocks for art, home economics, and science teachers. Proper laundering service for these items shall be provided without charge to teacher."

Article 10 C. reads: "Class sessions shall not be interrupted by announcements made over the public address system except when there exists: a) conditions which affect the safety or well being of students or staff; b) conditions which affect at least one-half the school population; or c) a clear or present need as determined by an administrator.

"Two-way public address systems shall be designed so as to eliminate any breach of privacy."

Article XVIII D. 2. is a provision on seniority. Seniority is meant to protect veteran teachers from being laid off before newer teachers. However, in large districts a great number of teachers are hired on the same day each year. That is when this provisions comes into play: "Where multiple teachers begin work on the same date, those teachers shall participate in a drawing to determine position on the seniority list. This drawing shall be held within thirty (30) days of the initial hiring date. The Board shall notify the Association and the Association shall thus have the opportunity to have a representative present at all such drawings. The individuals affected shall be notified of the drawing prior to the date it shall be held and they shall also be notified of the results of the drawing. All drawings shall be conducted openly and at a time and place which will reasonably allow affected teachers and Association representatives to be in attendance."

In other words, if a superintendent needs to lay off one of two teachers hired on the same day, he or she cannot keep the best teacher, but the one selected at random.

          "1. ...employees who have joined an employee organization or who join the employee organization in the future must remain members for the duration of a collective bargaining agreement so providing with the proviso that any such employee or employees may resign from such employee organization during a period of fifteen (15) days prior to the expiration of any such Agreement."

Article VIII, Section 2: "The Association further agrees that should any strike, sit down, stay in, slow down, work stoppage, withholding of services or any other like or similar interference occur, (regardless of the lack of Association connection with the activity) it shall put forward every reasonable effort to immediately have the activity terminated, including ordering the persons therein involved to return to work."

Article VIII, Section 5: "The Association further agrees that prior to seeking or recommending that any form of professional sanction or boycott be imposed upon the Swampscott School System to, or by, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and/or the National Education Association, it will first exhaust its rights to remedy and relief under the provisions of this Agreement."

Article XIV, Section 1: "The President and designated Vice President of the Association shall not be required to perform study hall, cafeteria, homeroom, recess, rest room or corridor duties or before or after school supervision of students."

Article XV, Section 10: "Salary increases of any kind are not automatic. They are granted by the Superintendent, after lawful discussion and consideration of the Association's requests, only where there has been a continuation of high standards of teaching or a demonstrated improvement of efficiency in service. The Committee reserves the right subject to the provisions of this Agreement and after due notice, to withhold increments from a teacher doing unsatisfactory work."

Article VIII concerns the establishment of collaborative teams, both at the district and building levels, whose mission is to "help increase the quality of decision making, increase staff and community participation in decisions, improve the education and achievement of students, foster a mutual respect among district stakeholders, empower teachers around decisions affecting their work environment, and to improve the quality and extent of parental involvement."

Article 8.2 describes the composition of the Building Collaborative Team (BCT), stating it must have no fewer than six individuals, half of whom are to be selected by the school's teachers and the other half by the school's administrators. However, "Major decisions of the BCT shall be subject to approval by 75% of those teachers affected. Upon approval by such affected teachers the decision shall be binding upon all affected teachers."

There are two types of seniority: continuous and suspended. The latter includes laid-off employees and those on long-term disability or unpaid leave. Those who let their certification lapse also have their seniority suspended. Employees continue to accrue seniority if they are called into military service, go on leave of absence for the teacher exchange program, or while receiving workers' compensation payments.

The section contains seven additional paragraphs on accrual of seniority. Here is one of them:

"New employees who are employed on a non-emergency contract for one half time or more before the first day of the second quarter and who complete the school year under the original contract will gain reemployment rights and seniority for the period of employment. If employed by this date, this year would also qualify as one year of the probationary period. Seniority will be prorated and reemployment under the provisions of the contract will occur only if the vacancy exists for which they are qualified."

Section A-11a describes a "standard day" for K-5 teachers:

"A standard day shall be defined as 435 minutes, excluding lunch but including a morning homeroom period of 7-15 minutes, e.g., where teachers will supervise students entering the building, take roll, take lunch count, make announcements, etc. The teaching day shall not exceed 349 minutes of classroom teaching, thirty (30) minutes for lunch and thirty (30) minutes of recess. Outside of the forty-five (45) minutes guaranteed prep time and a thirty (30) continuous minute block for lunch daily, up to eighteen (18) hours per year of the standard work day (an average of six (6) minutes each day - thirty (30) minutes per week) may be assigned each teacher for supervisory duties. Supervision assignments should be assigned equitably among staff. Any supervisory time assigned above the eighteen (18) hours will be compensated for at the rate of ten dollar ($10.00) per hour."

Article XIII, Section 8, Teacher Evaluation: "In the event a principal wishes to train an assistant principal by observing a teacher with both administrators in the classroom, the teacher has the right to decline such training."

Article XVII, Section 1, Professional Compensation: "Salary increases are not automatic. The School Board, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to hold a teacher at that teacher's present salary for just cause upon the recommendation of the Administration. A written statement of the reasons for withholding increases will be forwarded to the teacher no later than March 15."

The contract includes a few other stipulations. Section 3d states, "Self-appraisal is voluntary. A teacher may include a self-appraisal form as part of his personnel file."

Section 5 notes, "The school intercom system will not be utilized for teacher appraisal purposes."

Section 6 describes alternative appraisals by video tape. If a teacher and his appraiser agree, the teacher may tape his classroom performance as frequently as desired, select one, and submit it to his appraiser. The appraiser would then view the tape in lieu of an actual visit to the teacher's classroom.

According to Section 6j, at the conclusion of the process "tapes will be erased or may be purchased by the teacher at cost."

Article XII-A describes the Attendance Incentive Plan, which "provides incentive payments which are intended to reduce employees' use of illness and personal necessity leave." Depending on a number of factors, an individual employee can receive an annual payment of $250 up to $1,500 annually for not taking his or her allotted sick days -- half to be paid in cash at the end of each school year, the other half to be placed in the employee's name in the Attendance Incentive Reserve Fund, where it earns interest. That money is paid to the employee in a lump sum upon leaving the district due to retirement or separation.

The provision also allows two teachers, by mutual consent, to cover for each other, so that one teacher may be absent, but not have the absence counted against his or her attendance incentives. The contract states: "It is agreed that reciprocal coverage is not intended to cause or result in any increased absenteeism," but that "there are no payroll or time reporting consequences to the arrangement; the absent employee remains in paid status and the covering employee is not paid for the covering service."

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