Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter



CAT Tracks for September 5, 2008
SUPERINTENDENT PICKS ANOTHER FIGHT WITH CAT

Cairo's new Superintendent seems to feel a need to assert himself...

Don't know if it's adrenaline, testosterone, or what!

The Cairo Board of Education officially voted to hire Superintendent Leotis Swopes on July 1st. Two days later he notified CAT President De De O'Shea that the first Institute would be at SCC. The details of that fiasco have been previously reported.

CAT left the Superintendent alone in the aftermath of the SCC controversy...hoping, in fact, that it was simply a case of a new Superintendent making a decision in a vacuum and then feeling like he had to dig in his heels to prove he was in charge. CAT decided to let Superintendent Swopes have his "victory"...and move on. If Superintendent Swopes kept his word...to be "inclusive" in the future...to seek input from stakeholders before making decisions...fine. Things would hopefully calm down. Neither side gains anything by fighting turf battles.

CAT has even been proactive...working behind the scenes, trying to inform the Superintendent of provisions in the Contract and past practices so that there would be no "incidents" that would cause further conflict or confrontation.

So much for the "ounce of prevention" approach...

If "SCCgate" was an innocent misunderstanding...a faux pas by a newbie Superintendent, then what do you call it when a Superintendent who is informed of a clear contractual provision says in so many words "Damn the Contract...I do what I want!" (Those are MY words...MY editorializing to "heightened emotion".)

What am I talking about?

Well, the week after the FOP apparently approved the Superintendent's new contract and he signed it, Superintendent Swopes sent CAT President O'Shea notice that he will NOT abide by the provision of the Contract that states that the District WILL advance teachers on the salary schedule!

So that CAT will NOT be accused that it has "skewed facts" or has "slanted by omissions", the correspondence is reproduced below:




Superintendent Swopes cites "past practice" to deny vertical movement on the salary schedule...PAST PRACTICE, citing 2004 and 1988. Well, HELL, I'll go him one better...it was the past practice of Cairo School District Number One going back to "In the beginning..." (I WOULD draw exception to "2004"??? Don't have a clue what he's talking about...we were under a continuous Contract from 2001 through 2005. Therefore, teachers DID advance vertically on the salary schedule in 2004!!! Oh well, since he wasn't here...how would he know? Of course, therein lies the danger of imposing "past practice"...without consulting those who were involved.)

But...and it's a big ol' BUT...specifically negotiated contract language trumps "past practice"...every time!

Immediately below is the pertinent language..."Section 4.16 Advancement on Salary Schedule"...

First, from the 2001-2005 Contract:

Notice...there is NO mention of "vertical movement". Therefore, the District COULD AND DID deny vertical movement on the salary schedule...in the past.

However, THAT changed in 2005 when a new Contract was negotiated...the current Contract. The Association brought its objection to the "past practice" to the bargaining table and presented specific language to change that "past practice". The BOE agreed to the change. The 2005-2008 Contract specifies:

    4.16 Advancement on Salary Schedule

    An employee will advance horizontally on the salary schedule if successful completion of the required course is verified to the payroll department by official transcript, with seal affixed. Payment shall be retroactive upon receipt of said transcript.

    An employee who is eligible shall advance vertically on the salary schedule on the first day of the new school year.

Did you notice the new sentence...negotiated in the Spring of 2005 and approved by BOTH the Association and the Cairo Board of Education in May 2005, which went into effect on August 15, 2005? I knew that you would! Did YOU understand the language? I knew that you would! What's NOT to understand...it could NOT be more clear!!!

One might ask...

Since the Contract expired on June 30, 2008...is this language still binding? The answer is a big ol' YES! When a contract expires, the provisions continue in force until a new contract is successfully negotiated. Failure to do so is an Unfair Labor Practice!!! (Here we go again...feeding the lawyers!)

Because of all the hyperbole used in the politics of the past few years, I hesitate to use the term, but this situation IS "a slam dunk" for the Association.

Dr. Swopes was able to get his way on the SCC Institute because it was a "change in working conditions". Under Illinois labor law, such a change is a "mandatory subject of bargaining"...meaning they have to sit down and talk about it. However, as one of our former UniServ Directors is often quoted..."Mid-term Bargaining Sucks!"...meaning that after the talking is done, management can basically impose its will. So, when we got them to provide a bus (at a cost of $1,560) to transport employees, there wasn't anything else we could do. BUT (and I won't even change font this time)...this time they either back off, or we will see them in court...and they WILL lose!

Again...CAT tried to let the fire die down after the fiasco of the first day of school...hoping that things would improve. Unfortunately, we can now see that THAT is not the case.

Makes one wonder...

The BOE negotiating team and the CAT negotiating team have tried to be collaborative during negotiations...we have gone slow, but have maintained a positive relationship, keeping an EXPECTATION that a new Contract WILL be negotiated.

Unfortunately, Superintendent Swopes seems intent on creating a tinderbox and throwing off sparks...and to what avail?

The BOE team indicated to us that they were hearing rumors of a strike. We told them - TRUTHFULLY - that such talk was NOT coming from us...that we sincerely hoped that BOTH SIDES had seen the futility of that approach in 2002, when teachers lost thousands of dollars and the Cairo Board of Education lost control of the District to the ISBE Financial Oversight Panel...that we had no reason to believe that the two sides would NOT reach agreement.

BUT...as the Superintendent keeps slapping CAT around, it makes one wonder...

Just what IS he up to???

Is Superintendent Swopes trying to create a strike situation where he can prove that he's "the man"?

If not...then what???

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