Mat-Su school employees working strictly to contract

April 26, 2010|by Lori Tipton

Jill Showman, president of the MSEA, says teachers are tutoring and grading papers "on their own time and their own dime." (Mike Nederbrock/KTUU-DT)

WASILLA, Alaska — Labor contract negotiations for Mat-Su School District employees are still in limbo.

More than 1,900 teachers and support staff are refusing to work beyond school hours in hopes of pushing the district to settle on contract negotiations.

In schools throughout the Mat-Su Borough, some teachers put in more time than just their required 7 1/2 hours.

"They grade papers, they help tutor kids. It's on their own time and on their own dime," Jill Showman, the president of the Mat-Su Education Association, said.

Starting Monday, the 1,900 teachers and support staff will only "work to contract."

That means they will do only the work required under their contract and will only be available during the hours specified in their contract.

"The previous messages that we've been sending haven't been heard. They've been falling on deaf ears," Showman said.

Showman says this is the employees' way of sending a message to the district that they are frustrated with the lack of progress in labor contract negotiations.

"Most of the work with children takes place during the school day, and the contracts were developed with the students' best interest in mind as well as labor agreements," said district Superintendent George Troxel.

Troxel says he hopes teachers and staff maintain professionalism and will still honor the commitments they have made to their students through the end of the school year.

"I think it's important everyone recognizes that our obligations go far beyond just a working contract. There's kids' lives, there are activities that teachers have committed to," he said.

MSEA says teachers sticking to their working contracts will demonstrate how much extra service the community has been getting from teachers without additional compensation.

"They're members of this community, they're vested, but we also need to make sure that we have a voice and part of that voice is saying we've got to work to rule, we've got to make sure that we're able to get back to the table," Showman said.

One thing both sides agree on is that contract negotiations need to be settled.

"I sincerely hope it's settled soon," Troxel said, "That the teachers have a contract that they feel comfortable with, that the board has a contract that they feel comfortable with, and is fair to all sides," he said.

The teachers' contract expires in June.

If arbitration is not done by this summer, MSEA says the work action could still be in effect when schools open in the fall.

Contact Lori Tipton at ltipton@ktuu.com

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