OGDEN — Ogden teachers petitioned the school board Tuesday to bring back collective bargaining and act in a "spirit of collaboration rather than conflict."
More than 2,000 people signed the petition asking the board to include teachers in contract negotiations. Doug Stephens, president of the Ogden Education Association, delivered the petition to the district offices Tuesday.
"We petition the Ogden Board of Education … to immediately reinstate bargaining rights with the educators' bargaining agent," the Ogden Education Association said in a prepared statement.
The board and OEA were unable to agree on contract terms for the 2010-11 school year, so the previous year's contract expired. The school board drafted a 2011-12 contract that it presented to individual teachers June 30. Teachers were told to sign it or their positions would be listed as open for hire.
OEA leaders say they had hoped to meet with the board this summer to get 2011-12 negotiations under way but the board moved forward without them.
Board member Brad Smith said the contract for next year is in the bag. Because the previous contract expired, the board had to get a plan in place, and hundreds of teachers have already agreed to it.
"We're looking forward. We're not looking back," Smith said.
The union and hundreds of supporters rallied last week in Ogden to push for a return to the district's traditional contract negotiation process, where union representatives and board members work together to draft contracts related to working conditions, salaries and benefits.
"Ogden teachers have taken the board's decision to unilaterally develop a contract and force the teachers to sign or resign as a real kick in the face," said OEA President Doug Stephens. "Our hope is the board will see reason and return to the bargaining table with its educators."
The new contract lays out a performance pay component. It states teacher raises will eventually be based on the results of to-be-developed evaluations. Traditionally, raises have been based on years on the job.
The board voted to continue experienced-based raises for the next two school years while it develops criteria for the performance-based model. By 2013-14, 25 percent of teacher raises will be based on performance, with the other 75 percent based on experience. The following year, 50 percent will be performance based. By 2016-17, 100 percent of raises will be contingent upon performance.
Both state and local teachers union representatives have stressed they are not opposed to a merit-based pay systems. They disagree with the board mandating the system and other contract changes without teacher input.
"The board signaled its intent to act unilaterally rather than collaboratively, which is ultimately not in the best interest of employees or students," the OEA's release states.
Smith said the contract allows for collaboration, and a task force that includes teachers will be organized in the near future that will develop the criteria for a merit pay system.
"We expect to immediately begin to engage in a collaborative process," Smith said.
Smith said he wasn't aware of the petition, and to his knowledge, the OEA hasn't raised specific concerns with the terms of the contract but rather the process through which it came about. The board has agreed to fund cost of living raises for all teachers and experience raises for the next two years — something that hasn't been guaranteed in years past.
"I think that's a win for every teacher," he said.
From a state perspective, Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said legislative education committees plan to study how other states have approached collective bargaining.
"It's surprising that some of the more liberal states have actually taken action in this regard," Stephenson said Tuesday, referring to Wisconsin and others that have cut collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Stephenson said there are some who believe the quality of education has gone downhill since the 1960s, when teachers were unionized. Stephenson said constituents have asked their lawmakers to look at the issue in Utah.
"We don't know at this point whether the committee will take any action," he said.
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