What next?
Tension was high last night at the special board meeting where the trustees voted 6-1 to impose a contract on the teachers. At issue was some language in the contract that made permanent cuts to teachers compensation and also the fact that the contract had not been negotiated between the two parties.
The entire process has been very frustrating as both sides have maintained that they want to work together yet an agreement could not be reached. Many of us were hopeful that after the independent Fact Finder’s report was released, both parties would sit down and craft a deal based on those recommendations.
The teacher’s said they agreed with the report and were willing to negotiate. The district claims the teacher’s refused.
At this point though the possibility of a strike seems very real and is very concerning for all parents in the district. What do we do with our children if the teacher’s strike? I personally don’t have a lot of confidence in the ability of any substitutes to adequately fill the void of the permanent teachers. I also have grave concerns over the safety of students on campus as I cannot imagine they can find 2,200 temporary employees to replace the teachers leaving the supervision less than adequate.
It is quite disappointing that it has come to this and we have no one to blame except for the trustees. They can point fingers at Sacramento, the teachers’ union, the economy, or anyone else but in the end, they are the ones with the position of authority. It is their responsibility to educate the 52,000 students in our district and it looks like they are going to fail.
Tags: Capistrano Unified, CUSD, erin kutnick