DISTRICT, TEACHERS REACH A DEAL A.V. UNION HIGH TENTATIVE ACCORD GIVES 5 PERCENT RAISE; VOTE SET FOR NEXT WEEK.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer LANCASTER -- After more than four months of impasse im·passe n. 1. A road or passage having no exit; a cul-de-sac. 2. A situation that is so difficult that no progress can be made; a deadlock or a stalemate: reached an impasse in the negotiations. in contract talks, negotiators for the Antelope Valley Union High School District The Antelope Valley Union High School District (A.V.U.H.S.D.) is located in the Antelope Valley area of California, in northern Los Angeles County. The district includes eight public high schools, one trade school, and two continuation high schools in the cities of Palmdale and the teachers union have reached a tentative agreement that will give teachers a 5 percent raise and a 1 percent one-time bonus payment. Maximum class sizes will increase by one student, and teachers will pay a higher co-payment for prescription drugs prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, starting next year, under the proposed settlement, officials said. ``I think the settlement was developed through compromise and addresses the needs of the teachers as well as the students and the district,'' said Gene Smith, president of the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Teachers Association. ``It was give and take on both sides.'' The union's representative council approved the tentative agreement, and teachers are scheduled to vote on the proposed pact next week. The district has 1,100 teachers. ``It sounds like we've reached an agreement that's acceptable for both sides,'' trustee Al Beattie said. ``Teachers had to give up a few things to put more dollars in the offer.'' Both sides had been meeting with a mediator mediator n. a person who conducts mediation. A mediator is usually a lawyer, or retired judge, but can be a non-attorney specialist in the subject matter (like child custody) who tries to bring people and their disputes to early resolution through a conference. after an impasse was declared during the summer over issues of salary and benefits. The district had offered teachers a 4 percent pay hike while the union sought a 6 percent raise for its members. The 5 percent raise, if approved, is for the 2006-07 school year and would be retroactive Having reference to things that happened in the past, prior to the occurrence of the act in question. A retroactive or retrospective law is one that takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing laws, creates new obligations, imposes new duties, or attaches a to July 1. Should teachers get more students above the new class cap, which differs from subject to subject, they will receive extra ``soft cap'' pay, Smith said. Deadlocks in contract talks between the teachers union and the district have not been uncommon. There have been impasses in three out of the past five years. An impasse also was called in negotiations between the district and the union representing the district's nonteaching employees. The district's chapter of the California School Employees Association The California School Employees Association (CSEA) is the largest classified school employees labor union in the United States. CSEA represents more than 230,000 public employees in California. has been offered a 4 percent raise for nonteaching employees, but it wants 7 percent, district officials have said. karen.maeshiro@dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion