Dozens of teachers, students and community members attended the Juneau District School Board Tuesday evening meeting, many holding signs, in support of the Juneau Education Association, which recently declared an impasse after 10 months of contract negotiations with the district.
Of the 15 people who spoke to the board in support of JEA’s push for better contracts amid drawn-out negotiations, many shared their personal financial struggles citing a lack of increased wages, inflation, rising child care costs and lack of staff as factors in their growing frustration with negotiations.
Juneau educator Electra Gardinier holds her young child as she speak to the Juneau School Board Tuesday evening amid its meeting at Thunder Mountain High School. Members and supporters of JEA pushed for better contracts amid drawn-out negotiations. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
The speakers ranged from teachers to students to medical professionals within the district who all expressed upset with the hardships many teachers in the district are facing.
Corrine and James Marks, a married couple and longtime educators for the district, expressed their alarm and disappointment at the stalemate with negotiations and shared their personal stories of the effort they put into their job which they feel is not being supported or compensated adequately by the district.
“This proposed contract does not recognize the dependency placed on educators today,” Corrine Marks said.
The contract proposed by the district included an almost 27% decrease in the school’s contributions to health premiums with a salary increase of 7% during 2022-2023, followed by a 6% during 2023-2024 and 5% during 2024-2025.
JEA proposed a salary increase of 7% during 2022-2023, followed by a 5% during 2023-2024 and 5% during 2024-2025, with a nearly 4.3% increase in contributions to health premiums.
School board president Deedie Sorensen said the district proposed a decrease in contributions to health premiums in exchange for a more robust salary increase.
Sorensen said that the district has a finite amount of money, and she said she believes the economic realities of the district — and other districts across the state — are at a crisis point.
“Our ability to add more dollars to that package at this time just doesn’t exist,” Sorensen said. “Sadly, it’s not just Juneau, it’s all of Alaska — we just don’t have the resources from the state.”
Jamie Marks said that the cost of living has increased to the point that many teachers in the district feel they are unable to provide for themselves or their children with the initial negotiated contract presented by the district.
“How I really feel is ‘how dare you?’ How dare you do this to me and all of the other teachers after all we have given over the past three years during the COVID pandemic,” James Marks said. “I urge the school district to do the right thing, show us you respect my colleagues, me and my entire profession by providing us what we need most — adequate compensation.”
Jess Cobley, JEA’s middle school representative at large and math teacher at Floyd Dryden Middle School, was one of the speakers on behalf of JEA who said she feels unheard by the board and the difficult reality that many teachers are facing amid the drawn-out negotiations. Cobley said she hopes the two groups can find a solution that respects teachers and also acknowledges the district’s financial deadlock in part due to flat funding from the state.
“Feeling heard and understood is the first step to a healing relationship,” Cobley said. “I genuinely believe both the school board and the union both want to support teachers and students as best we can in this district.”
In an interview with the Empire, Superintendent Bridget Weiss said she sees a lot of mutual interest between the district and JEA in finding a solution that addresses both sides of the negotiation, but said it’s often “an art” to find it and is a process.
Weiss pointed out Juneau School District is far from the only district in the state struggling to reach an agreement with educators. She said other districts across the state are dealing with similar financial issues which impacts the districts’ capability to provide contracts that meet needs outlined by teachers across the state.
“We certainly are not alone in the state,” she said. “It’s a tough place to be because we don’t have the financial resources we wish we had but we do have the commitment to increase compensation.”
Weiss said one of her main takeaways from the meeting was that she would like to look at ways to facilitate better communication between the bargaining teams to reach agreement promptly.
“We have a lot of interest in getting this contract settled and making sure your employees feel valued,” she said.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
