West Bloomfield Teachers To Vote Wednesday on Proposed Contract

Members of the West Bloomfield Education Association last week received a proposed two-year contract that includes a pay cut and that is expected to go to a  ratification vote on Wednesday.

Approval of the proposed contract would end negotiations ongoing since October 2009.

May 2 from the WBEA to the West Bloomfield School District over the imposition of a 10 percent pay cut and retroactive step freeze imposed on teachers by the Board of Education at its meeting . The district had three weeks to respond and the contracts were received by the union May 26, according to two members of the WBEA who say they received copies of the contract.

The two biggest sources of contention between the district and teachers union have been teachers’ salaries and fringe benefits. The proposed contract calls for a 5 percent off-schedule wage reduction in the first year.

It is unclear whether under the proposed contract, which would retroactively go into effect to Sept. 1, 2010, would require teachers to "pay back" the district for money paid to them going back to Sept. 1. Some teachers were hit to the tune of a 17 percent wage reduction after the imposed contract included a 10 percent pay cut retroactive to Dec. 1, 2010, but even that cut did not include the additional three months not covered under a new contract.

The second year of the proposed contract calls for a cut of 7.5 percent based on a letter of understanding including language to allow for an off-schedule salary cut of between 5 percent and 7 percent based on the per pupil foundation allowance being cut by less than $400 (state or federal dollars) in the 2011-12 school year.

If the contract is ratified, teachers on a salary schedule will see the number of steps which it takes to reach the top increase by four, from 11 to 15. The second year calls for a step freeze.

Frustrated teachers took to the Facebook page of the WBEA's support website, West Bloomfield Kids First, to voice their concerns. "We will probably be able to retire and STILL not be at the top of the scale! But oh yeah, we still have to take classes and my student loans sure haven't stopped! So frustrating! ... My vote is no!" wrote Jaime Lindstrom, a second-grade teacher at who has

Co-curriculars and athletics budgets would be permanently cut by 10 percent under the new contract, which is 10 percentage points less of a cut than the 20 percent recommended by fact finder Michael P. Long, a neutral labor expert selected by the State Board of Education, in January.

Teacher benefit insurance would be changed effective July 1; teachers would contribute $60 per month for a single subscriber, $80 per month for two subscribers, or $100/month for the whole family. It also includes a $200/$400 deductible, which goes against Long’s recommendation that the district institute a $300 per person/$600 per family deductible. That is an increase from zero deductible under the old contract.

The state of the lawsuit filed in concordance with the proposed contract is unclear. Assistant superintendent Rick Arnett declined to comment Friday and Michigan Education Association leadership representing the WBEA could not be reached for comment Friday.

The ratification vote will take place in the media center Wednesday over the course of two meetings, one  2:30-4 p.m. and a second 4:30-5:30 p.m. Union leaders said members must be present to vote.