By Martha Carver | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
You may be aware that the Douglas County Federation (DCF), the teachers’ union, is asking the Douglas County School District to engage in Collective Bargaining.
Before making a major shift in school governance, district leaders should recognize the protections already in place and require clear support from a majority of teachers.
But the most important question is what does this proposal actually mean for teachers?
Collective bargaining agreements (CBA) are contracts between the union and administrators that cover teacher pay, benefits, seniority rules, transfer rights, evaluations, and grievance procedures.
Currently, teachers have the option to join the union, and this will not change if the School Board accepts the CBA.
Although teachers will not be required to join the union, if a CBA is approved, ALL teachers will have to follow the same CBA negotiated contracts. This applies to teachers who are union members along with those who are nonunion members, except for Charter school teachers, who will not fall under the CBA.
Once a CBA is in place, exclusive representation by the union is granted; individual teachers lose their right to speak for themselves on workplace issues. The union will speak for everyone, whether teachers agree or not. This is not true support for teachers, and I encourage teachers to research the pros and cons of this proposal closely.
Our school district has operated for more than a decade without a collective bargaining agreement while still serving students, families, teachers, and staff well.
Acceptance of a collective bargaining agreement will be a major change for the district; one which deserves a clear and transparent demonstration that this path genuinely reflects the teachers’ preference.
In September, the Douglas County School District plans to send an anonymous survey to teachers to assess their support. This is a good first step in the approval process which allows the district to hear teachers’ opinions, and I appreciate the Board’s understanding of the importance of this step.
In assessing the results of the survey, the school district needs to consider a response of the true majority of the total number of teachers rather than just a majority of those who complete the survey.
If less than 50% of teachers respond to the survey, the results should be considered inconclusive.
Since the consequences of this decision are great as it will affect teachers across the district, the school district should take great care in informing teachers of the issue, conducting the survey, and interpreting the results.
It will be difficult to understand which way teachers should vote as there are no details available regarding the CBA the Douglas County Federation intends to pursue. What details will the DCF propose regarding pay, benefits, etc.? And is it really needed?
In Colorado, teachers are already protected by Colorado law under the Teacher Employment, Compensation, and Dismissal Act (TECDA). TECDA covers issues such as employment requirements, written contracts, probationary teachers, transfers, and dismissal grounds and procedures.
What would be the difference between the current Colorado law and the contract in the CBA? The proposed CBA is unclear, redundant, and unnecessary.
Before teachers come to a decision on this issue they will have to look at many factors.
The Douglas County School District can support teachers without surrendering flexibility or adopting a labor model that will not represent all teachers. Collective bargaining is not necessary to value teachers.
I would encourage teachers to conduct their own research into this issue before completing the survey in September. There are resources such as the TECDA (Title 22, Article 63) on the Colorado Revised Statutes website, The Douglas County Federation website, futureofdcsd.org, and the Freedom Foundation website.
Martha Carver is a Douglas County resident. She and her husband are both veterans, which required them to live in various states before finally moving to Colorado. She hopes Colorado will stay a great place to live for her grown children and grandchildren.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.