Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to inform you that we have reached a tentative agreement with the Rochester City School District for a one-year extension of the current (2015-2018) contract that expires on June 30, 2018. Everything in our agreement would remain the same – including the 3.61% increase for the next (2018-2019) school year.
Please read the attached language of the proposed one-year extension of our contract (here). If you have questions, call the RTA (546-2681) or check with your RTA Faculty Representative(s) who participated in a full discussion of the tentative agreement at yesterday’s meeting of the RTA Representative Assembly. Ratification balloting by all teachers will be held at every school and work location on Tuesday, March 13. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on this tentative agreement later in March.
If the proposed one-year extension is approved by teachers and the Board of Education, we will immediately resume Living Contract negotiations of the very important priorities that you’ve identified through our negotiations survey and forums (school safety, student discipline, class sizes, Paid Family Leave, sick days bank, reduced paperwork, and so much more). Issues not successfully resolved by Living Contract bargaining would then become part of our proposals in negotiations for the next multi-year contract.
The proposed extension of our contract comes at a time of fiscal uncertainty for our District and a potentially perilous period for unions and public education. If ratified, it will give us the needed time to bargain for a multi-year successor contract that would continue our drive for a more genuine teaching profession and more effective schools for all our students. I recommend it to you for ratification and urge you to exercise your right to vote.
Thank you for your continued and unswerving support. And thank you for all that you do for our students every day.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President