Teachers' Union, School District Reach Tentative Agreement

The union that represents the Elk Grove Unified School District's 3,000 teachers and other professional employees reached a tentative agreement Tuesday in contentious contract negotiations with the district.

The Elk Grove Education Association said on its Twitter account that general membership meetings will be held next Monday and Tuesday to discuss the agreement, with teachers voting March 28 through April 4 on whether to ratify it.

"The district is pleased that after a lot of hard work on both sides we did reach a tentative agreement with the teachers' association late yesterday afternoon," district spokesperson Elizabeth Graswich told Elk Grove Patch Wednesday.

Negotiators for both sides have been facing off over cuts to teacher benefits the district was requesting, including capping spending on healthcare premiums and canceling an annual bonus. A neutral factfinder was brought in due to the impasse and was scheduled to issue a report in the next few weeks. But the two sides returned to the bargaining table Monday.

The agreement would cover the 2012-2013 school year including the outstanding benefit issues. The district would not impose a healthcare spending cap, according to the union, but teachers would begin paying more for premiums.

"There’s cost-sharing on healthcare, there's staffing and class sizes issues that will both help students as well as alleviate some of our issues with layoffs," said union president Maggie Ellis.

Both Graswich and Ellis declined to provide further details until the union has a chance to share them with its members.

Ellis chalked up the agreement to the intense pressure teachers have put on the district over the past few months, including recent .

"It gets both what the district needs and what the teachers need and that’s what interest-based bargaining is about," she said. "I just wish we could have done it without all the contention."

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