Schools

Hundreds of Teachers Picket District

Teachers and supporters protested Tuesday the Elk Grove Unified School District's plans for a healthcare benefit cap, possible layoffs.

Carrying coffins and marching to jazz music, more than 1,000 Elk Grove Unified School District teachers and their supporters staged a New Orleans-style protest Tuesday evening against the district's plans for a health benefits cap and other budget cuts.

"Tonight we mourn the loss of an EGUSD institution: the notion of shared sacrifice," said Sheldon High School teacher Kristina Richardson, who like her colleagues wore a pink funereal armband, the same color as the layoff slips many district teachers have received in recent years.

Lines of protestors snaked down the sidewalk from the intersection of Elk Grove Blvd and Williamson Drive and up Elk Grove Florin Road to the district's headquarters.

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The rally was organized by the Elk Grove Education Association, the union that represents teachers and other professional staff, and took place just before a school board meeting where trustees were set to discuss a budget plan for the 2012-2013 school year that includes staff reductions and increased class sizes. As the board meeting got started around 7:00 p.m., chants of "Hey hey, ho, ho, Dr. Ladd has got to go," could be heard from outside the meeting—a reference to District Superintendent Steven Ladd.

Elk Grove Unified is going through the most contentious contract negotiations in decades as state education funding grows increasingly uncertain.

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In a press release, union president Maggie Ellis accused the district of "adversarial bargaining tactics resulting in the breaking of a signed agreement."

The beef: District officials are asking to modify the teachers' 2011-2012 contract to permanently limit the amount the district spends on health benefits to 2010-2011 levels. Teachers would start paying increased health insurance premiums in July. A neutral fact-finding panel is currently hearing arguments from the two sides.

District spokesperson Elizabeth Graswich admitted that the request amounted to changing a previously-negotiated agreement, but said the district's financial situation gives officials no choice.

"We are year after year spending more than we're bringing in," Graswich said. "Why health care is so difficult is that because of the huge increases everyone's seeing year after year [from insurance companies] that are compounding our structural deficit."

Other teachers at the rally said it wasn't just about health care.

"It's the healthcare cap, it's the pink slips, it's the layoffs that happen every year," said Preet Sangha, a physics teacher at Monterey Trail High School. "It's a noble profession but we don't get treated fairly."

Last year, the district sent layoff notices to hundreds of teachers in March, before rescinding them later in the year when funding projections changed. Board members have said they may need to do the same this year.

While butting heads over the healthcare cap, the district and EGEA are simultaneously negotiating a new contract for the 2012-2013 school year.

Officers with the Elk Grove Police Department said they counted about 1,500 protesters.


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