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Teachers, ESD fail to reach contract settlement By Paris Achen Jan 31, 2008 12:00 AM A A Bargaining teams from the Southern Oregon Education Service District and its union failed to reach a contract agreement during a mediation session Tuesday that would decide salary, benefits and working conditions for more than 100 special-education teachers. The groups exchanged new offers during the seven-hour mediation, but no settlement was made. "We were optimistic and then, disappointed at the lack of movement on dollars," said Jessica Knieling, ESD spokeswoman and a human resources development specialist with the Oregon School Boards Association. Another mediation session is set for 4 p.m. March 3. Negotiations between the ESD and the teachers, whose contract ended June 30, stalled in October. The ESD initiated mediation to try to bring a resolution to the standoff over pay and benefits. About 65 percent of the highly specialized teachers are itinerant, traveling among more than a dozen school districts primarily in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties. A first-year ESD teacher with a bachelor's degree, about 10 percent of teachers, now earns $37,116. The highest paid ESD teachers with 17 years of experience or more receive $70,208. Currently, the ESD pays 92 percent of health insurance premiums, while teachers pick up 8 percent. On Tuesday, the ESD enhanced its last offer for salary and benefits. It proposed a three-year contract with a 2 percent annual raise and another 6.7 percent salary boost in 2007-08 for teachers with 16 years or less of experience. In 2008-09 and 2009-10, the same teachers would receive a 2 percent annual raise and a 3.35 percent increase for experience. The offer set a cap of $890 for insurance benefits in 2007-08, $925 in 2008-09 and $935 in 2009-10. Teachers with more than 16 years of experience who are not eligible for 6.7 percent salary increase, about 25 percent of all teachers, would receive an additional $500 toward their health insurance benefits. The offer would be retroactive to fall 2007. After four hours of considering the ESD proposal, the union returned with a counter offer. The exclusion of 25 percent of teachers from the 6.7 percent pay hike for experience was unacceptable, said Michael Friedl, union co-president. Instead, the union proposed a two-year contract with a 2.75 percent annual pay increase for all teachers plus the 3.35 percent boost for experience. The union also asked for a guaranteed contribution of $945 on monthly insurance premiums in 2007-08, rising to $1,022 in 2008-09. The ESD bargaining team adjourned the mediation because it said it needed more time to estimate how much the union's offer would cost. Reach reporter Paris Achen at 541-776-4459 or [email protected].