The GEA Bargaining Team has informed the Evaluation Committee and School Board that due to the GEA Team being unable to meet until after August 15th, we do not see how a vote on August 15th is possible nor do we think it will even be possible by September 1st. In addition to calendar issues there are several other concerns…
1. The Team has not been given the most recent draft of the plan to discuss.
2. The Team has not been able to meet to discuss any bargaining issues.
3. There are items that have to be bargained between our two groups, which would possibly entail scheduling another meeting for the two Bargaining teams to meet together.
4. We do not have time to meet with our entire membership by Sept 1st to present the plan and answer their questions, so that they may make an informed vote.
The GEA Team also still has some general concerns:
1. It is our understanding that the District 205 Board of Education is going to be asked to vote on this plan on August 13th at the Board meeting. We do not see how can they vote on something that has items yet to be bargained?
2. The law and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (Section 12.7) clearly states that we have until July, 2013 to get the Plan finalized, so why does it seem like we are all being rushed into this?
3. The first sentence of Section 12.7 of the CBA states, “The District has an approved waiver through 2013 to utilize the current Professional Development Plan/Professional Growth Plan Model;…” As stated in our previous memo to the Evaluation committee, the GEA Team suggests that we continue using this model with the exception of utilizing the new mandated categories.
4. The GEA Team is still concerned that there is no appeal process built into this plan. It remains the GEA’s position that teachers should have the right to appeal a possibly unfair interpretation of evidence.
The GEA remains in support of the Evaluation Team’s over-all progress and supports their efforts in the current plan. However, it is the GEA’s position that it is not yet complete and believes such an important issue should not be rushed into in haste.