Palisades-News-May-6-2015-

May 6, 2015 Palisades News Page 5PaliHi Teacher Contracts StalledBy LAUREL BUSBYStaff WriterThe faculty and administration ofPalisades Charter High School havereached an impasse in their effortsto negotiate a new teacher contract, andthe school and its faculty union disagree asto whether a mediator or an impartial observercould best assist in solving the issue.In an April 22 letter to PaliHi stakeholders(faculty, staff, administrators, parents‘Murder inThe Palisades’The Pacific Palisades Historical Societypresents a special program, “Murderin the Palisades,” at 7 p.m. onMonday, May 18 in Pierson Playhouse,941 Temescal Canyon Rd.Investigators Roger McGrath andRandy Young will preside over casessuch as the death of Thelma Todd. Wasit suicide, murder, or ? The historianswill examine this community’s mostnotorious cases of mystery and mayhem.Admission is free and parking isavailable. Refreshments follow the program.Visit: pacificpalisadeshistory.org.and students), Principal Pam Magee describeda negotiation process featuring 10meetings over seven months that had focusedon “teacher compensation and thestudy and possible implementation of a newbell schedule” (see associated article on page15). After the most recent union contractproposal, the Board of Trustees (minus thefaculty and classified staff members) decidedthat the meetings were at an impasse.Thus, PaliHi sent a request to the PublicEmployment Relations Board for the appointmentof a mediator. “We believe thebest interests of students, employees, andthe community are served by involving aneutral mediator to facilitate an agreementon these two issues,” Magee wrote.Instead of a mediator, the faculty unionhas requested an impartial observer to assistin the negotiation process. “Since Pali becamea charter school in 1993, on-site nego -tiations have never been this contentious,”said English teacher Stephen Klima, one ofthe union representatives. “This is the firsttime we’ve ever gone to impasse.”Last week on Bowdoin and Temescal,members of the union (United TeachersLos Angeles—Palisades Charter HighSchool) began disseminating flyers to parentsand students cataloguing their viewpointson the issues. They also protestedwith signs and more flyers on the morningof April 29. This protest coincidedwith a tour for incoming parents and students,and estimates of gathered teachersranged from 20 to 60 faculty, dependingon whether the administration or theunion were asked about the figures. Anotherprotest was planned for May 5, afterthe Palisades News has gone to press.The impasse began after the board receivedthe most recent contract proposalfrom the union. Among other recommendations,the proposal advocated increasingsalaries by 6.5 percent retroactive to July 1,2014, while PaliHi had offered a 4 percentretroactive increase.Currently, an entry-level teacher at Pali -Hi earns $50,828. The maximum annualpay is $87,883, while the median salary is$70,798, according to Brad Daley, executiveassistant to Magee.In addition to the salary issue, the unionproposal recommended a bell schedulecommittee comprised of administrators,parents and students, whose recommendationswould then be presented before acommittee of teachers. This committeewould reach consensus on proposed bellschedules before submitting them to a voteof the entire faculty.Both the union and administration havesince reached out directly to parents, studentsand faculty in an effort to explaintheir viewpoints.After the initial board request for a mediator,Klima and Dave Suarez, the otherfaculty union representative, sent an emailletter to their colleagues citing intense frustrationswith the negotiation process thusfar and the administration in particular.The letter cites a number of issues, includinga differing viewpoint on potential fundsavailable for the salary increase. Mageebriefly disputed some of its contents in ashort email letter to stakeholders.Last week, the union began distributingflyers about its position to parents and students.The flyers included a website linkfor parents and students to visit in orderto join the union’s mailing list.One flyer stated that the school receivedan 11.2 percent increase in funding thisyear, which translates into about $2.5 million.A one percent teacher salary increasecosts about $110,000, the flyer added.Magee responded in an email to schoolstakeholders: “While it is technically correctthat there was an 11.2 percent increase infunding, this does not mean that funds areavailable for an 11.2 percent increase in pay.”She goes on to say that part of the increasewent to hiring 4.5 new teachers to reduceclass size in certain courses, and the schoolcan only provide a 4 percent retroactivesalary increase without running a deficit.