Final contract under review for approval

The final text of the new, three-year contract agreement between Tacoma Public Schools and the Tacoma Education Association was not released Thursday. Officials said it must still must be edited, reviewed by both sides and approved by the school board.

Here are some highlights of new contract language contained in the tentative agreement and related documents, based on interviews and information the TEA provided to its members Thursday.

DISPLACEMENT

This issue, which deals with teacher transfers between schools and reassignments within them, was the big flashpoint in the strike, both sides said.

The district said it wanted to give principals flexibility in making teacher assignments; the union had argued that too much of what the district sought was subjective and that building administrators could use it to play favorites. They preferred the traditional seniority- and credential-based system.

This week’s agreement establishes a committee, with equal representation from both the union and the district, that will study and implement a new policy using criteria that are “objective and appropriate.”

Within two weeks of Thursday’s vote, each side must appoint one person to begin the work of the committee. The number of total members is open. The committee can use outside experts and consultants, and may use a facilitator to assist its work.

Any new policy on teacher displacement must be approved by two-thirds of the committee members. Earlier, the sides had disagreed over how much power the committee would have.

The committee must come up with its recommendations in time to go into effect in the 2012-13 school year.

Under the new system, seniority may be a factor or a tie-breaker in assigning new jobs to teachers, but not the sole or primary factor.

The committee is charged with developing a policy to preserve some of the district’s specialized programs such as Lincoln Center, the School of the Arts, the Science and Math Institute, middle schools where reforms are under way, and the district’s two Montessori programs.

Many of these programs are staffed with less-experienced teachers who would be the first to be displaced under traditional rules.

The union has also agreed to drop a grievance it had previously filed over the displacement issue.

CLASS SIZE

The new agreement retains current class size limits, with some additional language favorable to keeping down the number of students in elementary school classrooms.

The district had originally sought to raise the caps after the 2011 Legislature cut funding designed to keep classes small. The union had initially sought class-size reductions.

PAY

To help the district absorb 1.9 percent statewide funding cuts for teacher salaries, Tacoma teachers will sacrifice one paid optional training day per year. Otherwise the existing salary schedule remains in place.

The training day could be restored later if the state gives back the money it cut during the 2011 legislative session.

Eliminating the single training day is the rough equivalent of a 0.5 percent pay cut, according to the union.

EVALUATIONS

A new teacher evaluation system will be tested over the course of the contract, and will not immediately go into effect districtwide. A pilot system already developed by the union and the district is scheduled to be used this year at Jason Lee Middle School. That new system was required by a federal grant designed to improve low-performing schools.

Superintendent Art Jarvis said he believes both the new evaluation pilot and whatever policy the committee develops on displacement will be watched around the state as a potential model for other school districts.

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635 debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com