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AEA's Perspective on the APS Financial Situation
As
the school year closes it is natural that there is frustration
about the inability of the District and Association to conclude
negotiations for this year. The District's financial situation
this year has clearly been out of the norm; and unfortunately,
the "legitimate" educational interests of the District
are being pitted against the "legitimate" interests
of employees to receive an appropriate cost of living salary increase.
Here's a little more background on the District's financial situation
from the Association's perspective.
The
District presently has a budget imbalance of about 10 million
dollars, i.e. spending exceeds revenues by this amount. The District
has attributed the imbalance to enrollment decline and one time
spending for VISTA 2010 which is true to some extent. This spending
imbalance has actually occurred over the past two years. Prior
to last year, District reserves had actually been increasing at
a healthy pace for several years.
The
District's enrollment "decline" is nearly all attributed
to increases in charter school enrollment that creates a net decline
in revenue for the rest of the District. This net decline is the
result of a 600 student drop this year and approximately a 150
student drop last year. This accounts for about 5 million dollars
in revenue loss. Next year the District anticipates another 600
student drop. This likely will occur, but it may not. We won't
know until October, but the District is making staffing cuts and
financial plans accordingly. Next year the District is cutting
60 teachers for a savings of about 4 million. It is also making
division cuts of another 2.2 million. These two cuts would cover
most of the loss created by enrollment declines for the 06-07
and 07-08 school years.
The
reality is the District has created ongoing expenditure increases
that have contributed to this budget imbalance. Two years ago
in negotiations the District "bought" 30 minutes a day
of teacher duty time for essentially a 3.5% salary increase. This
provided for more teacher planning time at a compensation rate
that is approximately half of teacher per diem pay. This extra
time costs the District about 4 million a year. Two years ago
the District also created the Division of Assessment and Research
which increased expenditures another 2 million dollars. These
two items alone account for nearly 6 million a year in increased
ongoing expenditures.
It
is important to understand that the District is receiving an increase
in revenues this year. The State is increasing per pupil funding
by over 3.5% and the District, next year, will likely have a revenue
increase of several million dollars more than this year. Unfortunately,
the spending imbalance creates the situation where the District
has determined it has little revenue for cost of living increases,
while other districts are giving appropriate cost of living raises
to their staff members. Some of these districts also have budget
deficits, but recognize the importance of a cost of living increase
for their staff members.
The
Association is not convinced that the District is unable to fund
a cost of living increase and we are not sure that the District
has looked hard enough for appropriate budget reductions. We believe
there is revenue available for a cost of living increase. We are
pleased that the topic of a budget (mill) election is at least
being discussed. The District is overdue in exploring this option.
The
District's position that there are not resources to offer a cost
of living increase means employees will make a significant compensation
sacrifice while the District appears to feel minimal budget pain.
If the District does indeed have no revenues for a cost of living
increase then it needs to look inward. It is one thing to share
the burden of a difficult financial situation; it is another for
employees to absorb what feels like the full burden of this financial
problem. If employees do not receive a cost of living increase
this year this would be the case.
We
will continue to keep members informed as we move toward mediation
and, of course, thanks for your support.
AEA
Bargaining Team: Sylvia Carnahan, Laurie Foster, Jaime Green,
Brenna Isaacs, Amy Nichols, Frank O'Hara, Vicki Reinhard, Cathy
Wildman-5.12.08
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AEA
Officer/Board Directors Election
Elections
for AEA Officer and Board Directors concluded on Tuesday, April
15th. The results are as follows: AEA President: Brenna Isaacs,
AEA Vice-President: A run-off election will be held between Cathy
Wildman and Vicki Reinhard for this office. Elementary Board Directors:
Micki Amick, Middle School Board Directors: Michelle Spike, and
Monica Wilbanks, High School Board Directors: Amy Nichols, Angie
Willsea and Tony Bullock. Join us in congratulating these Association
leaders!
The
run-off election for Vice President will be conducted May 6-13.
AEA
FAC Well Attended
AEA members and invited guests enjoyed the Almost the End of the
Year FAC at BJ's on April 25th. Click here for photos……
AEA
Granted NEA ELL Training
AEA will be offering an NEA ELL training next fall. Developed
as the result of a new business item passed at the NEA RA, this
four day training will be offered to AEA members interested in
learning about and developing strategies to meet the needs of
English Language Learners. Read more
about this opportunity and watch for additional information on
when the training will occur.
ELA
Caucus Professional Development
The AEA ELA Caucus invites you to attend a presentation by Dr.
Robin Waterman. Dr. Waterman is a researcher and author who is
currently coordinating the ELA Parent Advisory Committee (EPAC)
for APS, and is starting a Family Resource Center in Aurora. She
challenges the traditional model of parent involvement, and will
show us ways to strengthen the collaboration between culturally/linguistically
diverse families and schools.
The
session titled FAMILY-SCHOOL COLLABORATION: Redefining Parent
Involvement will be offered on Tuesday April 29. Click here
to see the professional development flyer.
ESEA
Update
It's an election year and not much activity is expected on the
reauthorization of ESEA. But, we are continuing to work hard to
move the needle on this issue. Meetings are underway with education
partners - like AASA and AFT - and Congressional leaders to shift
the debate to a different framework for ESEA so it focuses more
on the whole child. Congress and the President got it wrong in
2002. Now we are going to make sure they get it straight in 2008.
And on the education funding front, Congress is in the process
of finalizing the FY09 budget resolution. Both the House and Senate
passed their respective versions in early March and are working
on a final version which was due by April 15. Both versions provide
significantly more money for education and NCLB than the President's
budget, ensuring more resources for students and schools that
need help.
Pilot
Schools Initiative Getting Lots of Attention
Last October AEA & APS worked in collaboration to negotiate
an innovative idea called Pilot schools. Pilot schools originated
in Boston over 10 years ago as a collaborative effort between
the union, district and school committee, primarily to stem the
tide of charter schools. Aurora's first Pilot school will be William
Smith, slated to open next fall as a small expeditionary learning
high school. Three other letters of intent have been submitted
to the Joint Steering Committee. Read more
about Pilot schools……
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