MADISON (WKOW) -- The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and its teachers union, Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) are scrambling to agree on a new contract before it's too late.
Last week, the board agreed to go back to the bargaining table with MTI to extend their current contract through 2014. Those negotiations began at 9 am. Monday, and will continue on Tuesday.
It was a long day behind closed doors. Both sides said Monday night that they made a lot of progress, but it was clear they couldn't agree on everything.
"We've been trying to bridge the gap between what they want and what is workable with our folks," says John Matthews, MTI executive director.
On a tight deadline, that's proven to be difficult. Judge Juan Colas is expected to decide early this week whether to stay his ruling that overturned parts of Act 10 until the state's appeals process is over. If that happens, the contract will be void.
On Sunday, the district and the union exchanged proposals that asked for some changes to the current agreement. Most of those changes came from MMSD.
District officials say it's difficult to negotiate this time of year. Normally, the process happens in spring, after the district has determined the annual budget. Now, they have to make decisions without knowing how much money they'll have.
"What we're asking for is a salary freeze with the ability to increase salary, should that be a possibility, once we have our budgetary info," says Interim Superintendent Jane Belmore.
Union officials declined to comment on that restriction. A frustrated Matthews says they've reached common proposals with the district, but there are many changes they don't approve of, like eliminating a requirement that teachers in the district have to be represented by MTI.
Some things they could agree upon are efforts to eliminate the achievement gap in the district, and adding minority staff. That's something Belmore says is the district's top priority in these negotiations.
The district also wants to change their employee transfer policy, so they could hire people within the district for new jobs faster, and reach out to the external pool of candidates earlier in order to diversify their workforce.
Matthews says Monday's discussions would have be easier with a neutral moderator. He says they've worked with one in past negotiations, but he says this time the district did not agree to involve a third party.
Union representatives gave up waiting on the board just before 8 p.m. Monday and they went home. The board was still in a closed discussion on their negotiation strategy.
The groups will meet together again Tuesday at 9 a.m. with the hopes of an agreement before Colas makes a decision on the stay, which may come on Wednesday.
