Teachers Vote No

The school teachers of District 833 have rejected a tentative contract agreement. In a roughly 55 to 45 percent margin, The United Teachers of South Washington County union turned down the district’s offer on Tuesday. Of the union’s almost 1300 members, 90% voted. Union leaders will have to review comments from teachers who voted against the contract before resuming negotiations. Teacher salaries that fall below the state average and are less than neighboring districts, and control over who is placed in certain teaching positions were two of the main points of contention. The proposed contract is for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years. Teachers are currently working under the terms of a contract that ended in June 2015, because negotiators agreed to delay talks on a new two-year contract until after the November 2015 referendum. Several talks earlier this year failed to achieve consensus, and both side agreed to seek a mediator’s help. Talks resumed on their own before the scheduled mediation, reaching a tentative agreement that has now been rejected. The teachers’ union is the last bargaining group in the district to sign a current contract. District 833 serves over 17,000 students in South Washington County.