Twin Falls, Idaho, Teachers Will Vote on Latest Contract Proposal
Posted on: Thursday, 8 December 2005, 18:00 CST
By Joshua Palmer, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho,
Dec. 8--TWIN FALLS -- The school district and teachers' union have agreed on a contract.
Now it goes to a vote of the teachers.
About 180 voting members of the Twin Falls Education Association (TFEA) will meet today to discuss the proposal, which they will be asked to vote on. If teachers approve the contract, it will bring months of bitter debate over contract bargaining to an end. If teachers reject the contract, the bargaining process will move into fact-finding -- a lengthy process of gathering and disseminating information on points of contention between the teachers' union and the district.
Twin Falls School District Superintendent Wiley Dobbs did not want to comment on the contract until the teachers vote.
"I really want to be respectful as to what the teachers want to do," Dobbs said. "They have some choices in front of them, and I just want to be very careful."
Steve Hoy, spokesman for the TFEA, said other than a few exceptions, the proposed contract is similar to the original contract that was being worked on in mediation.
"Everything that was agreed to on Monday night, with the exception of some insurance details, is essentially the same," Hoy said.
The latest contract proposal was a surprise to educators and the community after a five-hour mediation session on Monday ended without an agreement.
Early Tuesday morning, the federal mediator -- Jim Bailey -- called as he was returning to Portland, Ore., and offered another possible solution to the bargaining disagreement. Both sides immediately met with their bargaining representatives and began working on possible settlements.
After the Twin Falls School District presented a proposed contract to the TFEA bargaining team on Tuesday, the team worked until 11 p.m. Tuesday to decide if they would bring the proposal before teachers for ratification.
Hoy said between now and the lawsuit scheduled to be heard Dec. 16 is a crucial time for teachers and administrators.
"If we don't have a deal this week, it's going to be a long time before we can get around to it," Hoy said.
TFEA bargaining unit members will meet at 7 p.m. today in the Vera C. O'Leary Junior High auditorium to vote on the latest proposal.
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Source: The Times-News
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