The mediation process broke down Wednesday, and now the Fresno Unified School District and the Fresno Teachers Association will move to the next step in the process -- fact-finding. The contract talks have dragged on for 17 months. Unfortunately, this isn't about the children.
The impasse seems to be turning into outgoing FTA President Larry Moore's last hurrah. The Bee's editorial board believes the union's 4,000 members should tell Moore to settle. They would get 5.5% raises and their students would get the full attention of their teachers.
The teachers don't have an incentive to settle because the district has agreed to pay retroactive pay back to July 2006. If Superintendent Michael Hanson wants to force the union's hand, he should tell the FTA that if it doesn't take the district offer by Oct. 1, retro pay is off the table, and the teachers would only get paid from the date the contract is signed. Losing more than a year of back pay might be just the incentive needed to get a settlement.
I don't understand why the Fresno Bee editorail board takes such an interest in the FTA. The teachers work hard and they deserve the raise. The people downtown make a whole lot more. The debate is also about the increase in 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is not going to magically improve test scores. It seems like the Fresno Bee does not stand behind the teachers. It is very biased. Maybe they would listen if 4,000 teachers cancelled their subscriptions to the Fresno Bee.