Schools, union lack trust

Trust is a fragile thing.
And it’s evidence of how badly contract negotiations have fared between Jay Schools and the Jay Classroom Teachers Association that trust has been badly damaged.
That much was clear after Monday’s school board meeting.
JCTA leaders sincerely believe there’s an effort to “hide money” as the fact-finding process approaches.
That’s not true, but trust has become so badly damaged that suspicion is understandable.
Contrary to what the teachers’ union leadership believes, the proposed action before the board Monday did not involve encumbering or concealing funds. It merely authorized year-end spending up to a defined amount — $900,000 — to pay expected health insurance claims.
The additional appropriation was not a transfer of funds from one account to another. It was simply a matter of granting the authority to spend. And any part of the $900,000 that’s not used to pay health insurance related bills at the end of the year reverts to the school corporation’s general fund.
The whole process is transparent, though it can be muscle-bound and confusing.
But to teachers — who feel they’re being shafted by the school corporation — the process and the motives seemed sinister.
And who can blame them?
Over a period of several contracts, the union had successfully negotiated an excellent health insurance plan. To get those benefits, other things were given up, such as contract language or direct compensation. Then the Indiana General Assembly passed H.B. 1260, which limits how much can be spent for teachers’ health insurance. New plans are put in place, and more of the insurance cost burden is shifted to teachers. But who gets the money that’s been saved?
State lawmakers apparently intended it to stay with school corporations so the state would have to send less money their way in the future. Teachers, with some justification, believe the savings should be passed on to them, since they’d given up other things in the past to get better insurance.
Meanwhile, school boards — through no fault of their own — are put in the middle, trying to enforce the legislature’s policies even when those policies lead to division and a fracturing of trust.
In the end Monday, the board did the right thing.
Once it was determined that tabling the additional appropriation didn’t tie the hands of the school system to pay its bills, it agreed to push the matter back to its November meeting.
But the underlying issue isn’t going to go away and is likely to be at the heart of the fact-finding process that lies ahead.
Whether that process can be a first step toward restoring mutual trust or simply makes matters worse remains to be seen. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]