The medical coverage issue should not even be part of the negotiations with the Sandy teachers. Just offer them straight pay and let the employees choose whether to get health insurance through private providers just like everybody else.

Demand, also, that the teachers individually sign a document that affirms the notion that they have already been fully paid for ALL past work. Include specific reference also to ALL PERS costs too for past work; let them take any future challenge direct to the PERB and the OIC and leave the schools out of it. Tomorrow is a whole new day, for new pay for new work, and the document must be signed before any new work can begin.

Simple, huh?

Sandy schools - The district's board considers whether to close classrooms should the union walk out

Tuesday, October 11, 2005
KIMBERLY MELTON

SANDY -- Teachers in the Oregon Trail School District voted Monday night to authorize a strike.

Mike Cosper, president of the Wy' East Education Association, said there was overwhelming support from the district's 216 teachers. No vote total was available.

A strike could take place as early as Oct. 21, but Cosper said it will likely be at least two weeks before the proper paperwork is completed and the school district is given the mandatory 10 days' notice.

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The two sides have been negotiating for nearly 18 months.

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In early August, the school district enforced its final contract offer on teachers, in a process called implementation. The process is rarely used to settle contracts, but it recently has become more palatable to districts fighting financial instability and facing stalled contract talks.

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Oregon Trail teachers had a choice of accepting the new contract terms or moving toward a strike. Among the more controversial issues were health benefits, working conditions, teacher evaluations, layoff procedures and language addressing the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Teachers were looking to get rid of the health insurance cap. The new contract kept the insurance cap about the same for the first year of the contract with $40 and $60 increases the following years. Teachers say that increase doesn't reflect the increasing cost of health care.
[ Oregon Trail teachers OK strike ]