- Posted by David on June 16, 2009
The Leader-Telegram of Eau Claire reports that John Ashley, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, is warning that removing the state law that limits increases in teachers' pay and benefits would be financially disastrous for school districts, especially during a recession. Ashley said ending the so-called Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) —as well as changing other policies used to determine teachers' compensation packages—will hurt school districts' ability to control their costs, the vast majority of which are tied to salaries and benefits. He said the state legislature is setting up school boards to look like "bad folks" because the policy changes will force layoffs.
The QEO was put in place by the state Legislature in 1993 as a way to control school costs. The law allows districts to avoid binding arbitration with teachers unions if they offer pay and benefit increases worth 3.8%. Teachers unions and their political allies—including Gov. Jim Doyle and the Democrats who control the legislature—say the QEO treats teachers unfairly by limiting their ability to negotiate. The current version of the 2009-11 state budget eliminates the QEO effective in 2010 and makes two changes to how contracts are negotiated: Arbitrators would no longer have to give the "greatest weight" to the financial impact state-imposed revenue limits have on school districts and won't have to give "greater weight" to local economic conditions. Compounding the problem, said Eau Claire Superintendent Ron Heilmann, is that the state budget would only allow school districts' tax levies to grow by $200 per pupil in each of the next two years, while it would decrease state aid for school districts by 3.5%.
Mary Bell, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said school board officials' concerns are misplaced. "Their line of argument assumes that in a time of economic downturn collective bargaining means bigger salary increases," Bell said. "There is nothing in the law that says that's true." Bell noted that local economic conditions will still be a factor when arbitrators chose between competing contract offers. Furthermore, she added, most teachers contracts don't go to arbitration anyway, and when they do, arbitrators generally are conservative and neutral.
Source: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram