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Four School Districts Lose State Money As Talks Fail

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 18:02 CST

By Lee Bloomquist, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

Jan. 18--Four Northeastern Minnesota school districts missed a Tuesday night deadline for teacher contract settlements and will lose state aid as a result.

Deer River, Eveleth-Gilbert, Littlefork-Big Falls and St. Louis County schools will be penalized $25 per pupil -- an amount that some school officials say districts cannot afford to give up.

A state-imposed deadline of midnight Tuesday is back in effect after being suspended by lawmakers for the last two rounds of negotiations, in 2003-04 and 2001-02.

School officials and teacher representatives for the St. Louis County district met Friday with a mediator and reached a tentative agreement, said Jim Poole, Education Minnesota field representative in Hibbing. The teachers ratified the agreement Monday night.

But the St. Louis County School Board on Tuesday morning voted against the agreement, Poole said. The agreement called for a 1 percent pay raise in the first year of the contract and 2 percent in the second year, said Charles Rick, St. Louis County superintendent. Teachers in the second year of the contract would have paid an additional 2 percent for health insurance, he said.

Without a settlement, the already cash-strapped district will lose $64,000 to $65,000 in per-pupil money, said Rick.

"Any time you lose state aid, it's money that you surely need," Rick said. "The board just didn't feel comfortable with our financial situation."

The district, which has rural kindergarten through grade 12 schools in AlBrook, Babbitt, Cherry, Cook, Cotton, Orr and Tower-Soudan, needs to trim about $1.3 million from its $25 million to $26 million 2006 budget, Rick said.

Deer River, Eveleth-Gilbert and Littlefork-Big Falls districts also hadn't reached settlements as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Education Minnesota officials.

Negotiations in Eveleth-Gilbert broke off Sunday with no further talks planned, Poole said.

Talks in Littlefork-Big Falls and Deer River also were stalled, said Dean Carlblom, an Education Minnesota field representative in Bemidji.

In some cases, both sides have dug in their heels, which could lead to prolonged disputes, Carlblom said.

Statewide, only 12 of 341 districts were without contracts, Education Minnesota President Judy Schaubach said at a Capitol news conference.

"Long, drawn-out, bitter contract disputes are not in the best interests of students, teachers, families or school districts," said Schaubach, who leads the statewide teachers union. "When we have a deadline in place, contracts do get settled."

Charlie Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, doesn't dispute that the deadline has resulted in faster contract settlements.

But he said it's not fair that just one side of the bargaining table -- the school districts -- face financial penalties if talks blow past the deadline. He said that leads some districts to settle for more than they should.

"Should I settle my contract for $50,000 more than I should, rather than lose $100,000? You get caught in that bind," Kyte said.

Teachers in the 329 school districts with contract agreements will get an average salary increase of 2.4 percent this school year and 2.56 percent next school year. Much of that will be eaten up by higher health insurance premiums, co-payments and deductibles, Schaubach said. Kyte said school districts also are paying more for health insurance, so the burden of health-care costs is shared.

Other districts without teachers contract settlements are: Glencoe-Silver Lake, Kelliher, Lincoln, Menahga, Red Lake, Rushford Peterson, South Koochiching-Rainy River and West St. Paul.

Red Lake school officials and teachers on Tuesday had a tentative agreement that both sides were expected to vote on, Carlblom said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.

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Source: Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minn.)

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