POSTED: 11:24 P.M. DEC. 18, 2009 | UPDATED: 4:45 A.M. TODAY
VOTE RESULTS
Detroit teachers union OKs contract deal with school district
BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY AND GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
The Detroit Federation of Teachers approved a controversial contract agreement with the Detroit Public Schools that requires most union members to defer $10,000 in pay.
The vote results -- 3,578 to 2,031 -- were released early today.
The contract promises to repay the $10,000 to the employees upon their departure from the district. The $10,000 concession will be deducted from paychecks over the next two years – but some hourly workers, such as substitute teachers, are exempt.
“This is the fairest contract we could’ve gotten in troubled times,” said Lenore Ellery, special education teacher at the Jerry L. White Center.
The contract also calls for a wide-range of school reforms including selecting a team of veteran teachers to evaluate teachers; the option to vote - by building - for shared decision-making with administrators; and an incentive program for staffs that reach agreed-upon goals.
Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager released a statement via e-mail just before 1:30 a.m. saying the contract recognizes how important teachers are to improving performance in the schools.
"This is a new day for Detroit's school children," Bobb wrote. "We can now move forward together to implement in Detroit the educational reforms that have been beneficial elsewhere in ensuring student success. ... I applaud the teachers for taking the time to carefully review all of the details of the package, especially in an environment when so many parties sought to foster misinformation."
High-priority schools will be created, allowing the option for extended school hours for those struggling schools. The union members also will pay more in healthcare premiums and co-pays. They will receive a 1% pay raise in the third contract year, 2011-12.
The financially-struggling school district will be able to use the deferred wages to pay bills while the 3-year contract will save the district an estimated $62.8 million.
The contract passed after two weeks of controversy and in-fighting. Union members had responded to the deal with vehement, angry outcries when it was presented at a meeting at Cobo Hall on Dec. 6. Dissatisfaction with the contract offer sparked an effort to recall the DFT president Keith Johnson who called the agreement “the best” anyone could negotiate considering the district’s deficit is at least $219 million.
Steve Conn, a math teacher at Cass Technical High, said the recall effort has collected 800 of 1,000 needed signatures to force re-vote on Johnson’s presidency.
“We are going to fight tooth and nail, continue to fight for public education,” said Conn, a vocal opponent of the contract. “They will not be able to implement this anywhere in a real way.”
Some members accused Johnson of voting irregularities including wrongly placing information on the ballot about the dangers of a no vote.
At least two schools received ballots delivered late, some ballots were sent to closed schools and some rosters needed to be updated, all problems that Johnson said were resolved before the Dec. 18 voting deadline.
Some ballots were thrown out because they were defaced with extraneous writing, for example, scrawled with words such as “hell no.”
“These are veteran teachers and they’re professionals so they should have known not to deface a ballot,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Thursday he would accept the union’s decision if members decide to recall him. But he maintained that those who objected to the contract offer did not understand that the alternative was worse - an outright pay cut.
He said there is precedence for the $10,000 “loan” to the district – in the 1980s each teacher loaned the district 10 days’ pay that was repaid one day a year over the course of 10 years, he said.
Johnson said members passed the contract despite the “lies and rhetoric” of the dissidents.
“We as a school district have to move forward now,” he said.
Teachers threaten injunction over vote
By LORI HIGGINS and CHASTITY PRATT DA
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITERS
Some members of the De troit Federation of Teachers were threatening Thursday to file a court injunction to halt voting that is to end today on the Detroit teachers contract.
“This is not a fair vote,” said George Washington, a Detroit attorney who said he repre sents several members of the union’s election committee and some other union mem bers.
In a letter Washington sent to Keith Johnson, the union president, Washington cited a failure by Johnson to consult anyone before writing the bal lot and called the ballot biased because it details what will happen if members vote no. The letter also raises questions about the accuracy of the vote because of problems with vot ing lists.
Johnson said the argu ments were not grounds for suspending the ratification process. He denied the re quest, though he admitted there have been problems dur ing the voting. Two schools didn’t get ballots, but they eventually were delivered.
“Most of the teachers have already voted. Whatever hap pens tomorrow happens,” he said Thursday night, referring to the counting of the ballots today.
Johnson said putting that language on the ballot was not illegal. “I put that on there be cause … I wanted people to have a clear understanding,” he said.
Mark O’ Keefe, executive vice president of the DFT, said past ballot language has al ways spelled out that a “no” vote on a contract would mean members would withhold their services. The only difference this time is what the “no” vote will mean.
“It’s informative language, not coercive,” O’ Keefe said. “It’s the least coercive lan guage we’ve ever had.”
But Washington said telling voters that voting no means they will stop working is differ ent from telling them all the ramifications that the current ballot spells out.
“It lets one side use the bal lot for a propaganda tool, and that’s never been done before,” Washington said.
Meanwhile, union members are circulating petitions to re call Johnson, citing dissatis faction with the tentative agreement he negotiated.
