Collective Bargaining in California Public Schools

A Brief History and Overview of Collective Bargaining in California

Major certificated unions

• California Teachers Association (CTA) : Membership 340,000. Affiliated with National Education Association (NEA).

• California Federation of Teachers (CFT) : Formed as a labor alternative to CTA which included school administrators. 120,000 members, affiliated with American Federation of Teachers (AFT). • United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA): 35,000 members. Originally CTA/CFT blend.

Educational organizations have a long history in California

• The California Educational Society, which became the California Teachers Association, was formed in 1863.

• The California School Employees Association became the first classified organization in 1927.

Classified Employee Unions

• CSEA: California School Employee Association. 230,000 members. Affiliated with AFLCIO • AFSCME: American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees. 54,000 members.

• SEIU: Service Employees International Union also has some classified education members.

Collective Bargaining Bills

• First California Collective Bargaining bill attempted in 1953 • Presented by California Federation of Teachers • Did not become law

The George M. Brown Act – 1961

• One of the first national comprehensive public employee labor relations laws • Included all state, county, city, public school and college, and special districts • Limited to “meet and confer” with no authority for binding agreements • No exclusive bargaining representatives • No statewide agency oversight

The Winton Act – 1965

• Separated employee relations for school district and community colleges from other public employees • “meet and confer” with no binding written agreements • No exclusive bargaining representatives, but recognized employee councils • Recommended that school boards incorporate agreed upon items into “written resolutions, regulations or policies.” • Teacher organizations often referred to the Winton Act as “meet and defer”

Assembly Advisory Council on Public Employee Relations – 1972

• Issued the Aaron report in March 1973 which recommended a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement for all public employees.

• Bills to enact this recommendation failed in 1973, 1974, 1975

Compromise?

• The unions wanted a comprehensive law that would mandate collective bargaining with binding agreements.

• Employers saw public education as a public interest and said districts should maintain decision-making power over curriculum, instruction, and services to students and wanted to limit the items that would fall within the scope of bargaining.

The Educational Employment Relations Act (Rodda Act SB 160) 1975 • Developed as the compromise between public education unions and employers • Established Educational Employee Relations Board (EERB) • Established Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) • Signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1975 and became operational on July 1, 1976

The Educational Employment Relations Act (Rodda Act SB 160) 1975 • Guidelines found in Government Code 3540-3549 • Expanded to most state employees in 1978, to higher education in 1979 • PERB has made over 2,200 decisions that have expanded the scope of bargaining • Commission on State Mandates determined that EERA resulted in reimbursable mandated costs on July 17, 1978

Duties under EERA

• Meet and consult • Good faith bargaining • Public notice of proposals (sunshining)

Scope of bargaining

• Mandatory subjects to bargain under Government Code 3543.2: • “All matters related to wages, hours of employment, terms and conditions of employment”

Terms and conditions include:

• Health and welfare benefits • Leaves • Transfer and reassignment • Safety conditions • Class size • Evaluation procedures • Organizational security • Grievance procedures • Probationary certificated employee layoffs

Limits on Scope of Bargaining

• All other matters are reserved to the discretion of the public school employer • However, PERB has published over 2,200 decisions that have expanded the scope

Negotiable upon request of either party

• Disciplinary actions other than dismissal • Layoff procedures and criteria • Additional compensation based on something other than training and experience • Salary schedule based on criteria other than uniform allowances for training and years of experience

Employee Organization Right to Consult

• Employee organizations have right to consult to the extent such matters are within the discretion of the public school employer on (GC 3543.2): • Determination of educational objectives • Determination of content of courses and curriculum • Selection of textbooks

The “Anaheim Test”

• Approved by California Supreme Court in San Mateo City School District vs. PERB in 1983.

• Expanded scope of bargaining to go beyond Government Code 3543.2 if:

Expanded scope of bargaining

At item is bargainable if it is: • “logically and reasonably related to wages, hours or an enumerated term and condition of employment.” • “of such concern to management and employees that conflict is likely to occur” • “would not significantly abridge the employer’s freedom to exercise managerial prerogatives”

Bargaining calendar?

• Palos Verdes & Pleasant Valley Unified School District (1979 PERB decision) • ”The dates of the beginning and ending of certificated service, vacation and holidays are primarily related to hours of employment found in section 3543.2 and are consequently negotiable items.”

Standardized tests?

• EC 44462 expressly prohibits the “Use of publishers’ norms established by standardized tests” in evaluating teachers.

• Since the California Standards Tests are criterion-referenced tests and CDE calls them “The official measure of progress toward meeting standards”, the question of whether they can be used in employee evaluation is an unanswered question that is being tested in several districts.

Just say no?

• ”The obligation to bargain in good faith does not require the yielding of positions fairly maintained.” • In practice, this position may be hard to establish.

Conflicts with laws and policies

• If there is a conflict between Education Code and a bargained agreement, Education Code prevails.

• If there is a conflict between employer rules and regulation and a bargained agreement, the bargained agreement prevails.

Is the scope too broad?

• The result of the broadening of the scope of bargaining is that curriculum and instruction issues that directly impact the mission and direction of the LEA are now being bargained.

• This has come to abridge management’s authority to set the direction and policies for the LEA they have the obligation to manage in the public interest.

Websites for details

• For details on Education or Government codes, to to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

and review Government Codes 3540-3549.

• To review PERB decisions, go to http://www.perb.ca.gov/decisionbank/search.

aspx and you will find several ways to search PERB and court decisions