Colleagues,
Please forgive this brief intrusion into your well-deserved summer recess but I want to make sure that you hear directly from us first about the most recent development with the ratification of our tentative Agreement for a Modified One-Year Extension of our current contract with an improved percentage salary increase and a much needed Teacher Retention Incentive.
We reached that agreement on Monday, June 23rd. As you know, the new agreement called for a 4% salary increase and a $2,500 Retention Incentive. Interim Superintendent Strickland and I signed off on it that same day. The RTA Representative Assembly then ratified it by an overwhelming vote (95 to 1) on Wednesday, June 25th. That same day, I emailed all RTA members the signed agreement and the accompanying new salary schedule.
The RCSD Board of Education was scheduled to ratify the Tentative Agreement on the very next day, June 26th but they postponed the ratification vote and then voted the pact down at their meeting earlier this evening. Voting for the contract were Lebron, Santiago and Elliott. Voting against the contract were Simmons, Maloy, Patterson and Griffin.
Like you, we are shocked and outraged by the Board’s shameful action. It reflects their contempt for teachers and undermines any confidence in their ability to act in a responsible and responsive manner. We tried to persuade the incoming superintendent, Dr. Eric Rosser, to advocate for a successful ratification of the Tentative Agreement but he decided to distance himself from the issue and falsely claimed that he was “not kept in the loop” on these negotiations.
The school board’s betrayal of teachers, and Dr. Rosser’s own disappointing attitude, sets up the new superintendent and our District for failure. At a time when the District is losing teachers in unprecedented numbers, the Tentative Agreement would have provided stability. That is why we will not give up on persuading the new superintendent and the Board of Education to reverse their wrongful decision. And that is also why we are determined to press for greater accountability for this long dysfunctional school board.
We will continue to keep you informed about the progress of our efforts on your behalf. And we will also inform you of what course of action we will take collectively when schools resume in September. Meanwhile, please enjoy the rest of your summer break. I remain confident that our solidarity will spell a fair and just solution to the current challenges – as it always had in the past.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President