Fremont teachers at impasse

MEMBERS OF the Fremont Unified District Teacher's Association (FUDTA) crowded a school board meeting at a moment's notice with more than 200 people in solidarity with the union bargaining team's decision to declare impasse in its negotiations with school officials. Teachers in Fremont have been without a contract for more than 240 days, and teachers across the district have had enough.

The biggest sticking points in negotiations are class size and salary. The district has offered teachers a 1 percent raise and a one-time "bonus" of 1.75 percent. As one teacher explained, "That would barely be enough for one bag of groceries a month." Considering that Fremont teachers do not get health benefits, most of the increase would go straight to the increased costs of health care.

Teacher Sara Kotcherlakota explained to trustees how she recently needed health care for her family when her husband went into early retirement. "I am forced to pay $1,700 a month," she said. "When I asked the insurance agent over the phone if I had any other choices, he said, 'You might be able to find services in India.' This is my home. This is my family, and this is my community."

Fremont teachers are asking for a 2 percent raise, which is comparable to what other nearby districts have settled on. Milpitas teachers, for example, received a 2 percent raise, and Alameda teachers settled on a 4.5 percent raise.

Mary Lotz, a third-grade teacher at Chadbourne Elementary, made things quite clear in regards to the massive reserve the district has accumulated in the last five years. "That reserve has been maintained on the backs of the students, teachers and staff of FUSD," she said. "I can only say to you, enough is enough. Please put the money back into the classrooms where it belongs."

OTHER TESTIMONIALS emphasized the problems that occur with the increase in class size. In the last five years, teachers have seen class sizes swell to an average of 30 students in grades kindergarten through third--an increase of 10 students per class.

In Fremont, this has meant that teachers have faced a "reduction in force" from more than 1,800 teachers to 1,650. Meanwhile, students are stuffed into overcrowded classrooms, showing the district's disregard for the basic notion that teachers' working conditions are students' learning conditions.

Teachers in junior high and high schools have on average 28 students per class and are being offered a "reduction" to 27.5. But because this is only average, some classes have giant classes while others are lower. As long as the site's principal maintains this average of 27.5, the school is in compliance. One high-school physical education teacher spoke out about how some of her classes have topped out at more than 85 students. Her main concern was the safety of the students.

The district currently has an 11.87 percent reserve in their coffers--well within the 2 percent required by the state of California. Teachers are asking that the district use these funds as well as the new revenue that will be generated by the recent passage of Proposition 30. Prop 30 mandates a tax on individuals making more than $250,000 as well as an increase in the sales tax to help fund education for the next seven years.

Teachers in Fremont logged hundreds of hours phone banking and walking precincts in November to help get Proposition 30 passed. While Fremont Unified will benefit from this increase for years to come, district officials claim that they will still be in the red. Thus, they say it's impossible to restore class sizes to pre-recession levels or to give teachers a raise that starts to pay them back for all the involuntary furloughs--essentially pay cuts--during the last five years.

Fremont teachers are getting ready for the next few bargaining sessions by planning public outreach to families. After spring break, teachers plan to hold informational pickets. FUDTA president Brannin Dorsey made sure that district officials understood that the union is serious about its demands as well as its plan to mobilize parents and teachers together. "We were able to get this in a week," she said, referring to the union's ability to mobilize for the bargaining session which was packed to the point of standing room only. "Enough is enough!"