When TVEA bargains with TVUSD, we bargain on an even playing field. Both teams have priorities and shape the language to arrive at our common goals and interests. When the teams understand the goals and have the opportunity to discuss issues and concerns from both perspectives, teams can work towards compromise with the end goal of coming to an agreement. This allows for good faith bargaining to happen.
Unfortunately, the TVUSD board majority is creating biased parameters (an uneven playing field) for bargaining without the input of the bargaining units.
Both Board Policy 5021 and Administrative Regulation 6115 are examples of board members bringing national political initiatives making the rounds in regional, state, and national school board meetings. General flag banning has happened this year in Sunol, Chino Hills, Murrieta, Orange County Board of Supervisors. A simple search online can provide different versions throughout the country. These decisions have no roots to the academic needs of students in Temecula schools. They are injecting political ideology rather than focusing on practices to improve the education and service for the students of Temecula.
AR 6115 adds a practice into the classroom for students that is already widely allowed and employs a convoluted practice to exclude all other flags, banners, pendants, and posters of flags. How does displaying another flag diminish patriotism and the honoring of the United States flag?
The AR doesn’t even mention a mandate that each room is supplied with a United States flag (personally I am relieved TVUSD is now supplying them, as teachers had to use classroom funds to purchase). Is the purchase only for classes of students? Rooms with first period classes? Each room on a campus?
A plain reading of the AR 6115 can reasonably be interpreted by District employees to prohibit speech that is protected under the Educational Employment Relations Act. How is the TVEA’s ability to display a banner on campus affected with the new AR? AR 6115 also narrows the legal interpretation of free speech such as displaying a message in an employee’s workspace would clearly be a matter of personal expression rather than one of district expression, the District’s absolute prohibition of any such displays improperly restricts employees from being able to engage in free expression of any kind and is not supported by a compelling District need. Will employees have the same protections as students to wear a shirt or have a patch of a different flag on their person or items? Read about teacher’s first amendment rights.
Both Board Policy 5021 and Administrative Regulation 6115, enacted this school year, impose changes to our contract that force parameters into the bargaining process, forcing TVEA to only bargain the impacts and effects. Last Thursday’s notice of bargaining Article 2 continues the trend (see installment 2). On Friday, 10/06, TVUSD announced over an email that the AR 6115: Ceremonies and Observances will be in full effect and implemented beginning Monday, October 16, 2023, including an FAQ on implementation. TVEA and CSEA have not had a chance to bargain without the implementation of the AR. That is illegal. TVUSD is not bargaining in good faith to problem solve or to adjust working conditions if the District already imposed the parameters of bargaining. TVUSD should rescind the different policies and regulations until its bargaining groups have a full and fair opportunity to negotiate without an improper, unlawful, and unilateral change to policy.
The TVUSD board strategy is to circumvent teacher voice in the development of board policy and administrative regulations (none went through a formal committee of educators or administrators) and then impose an item passed during a board meeting onto the bargaining units (TVEA or CSEA) that compromises the Collective Bargaining Agreements (contract). This would be similar to the TVUSD board passing an AR on mandating work related duties, without any TVEA input or discussions on change of working conditions, and then having the TVEA bargain the impacts and effects of how it is implemented.
Below you will see documents TVEA sent to the TVUSD Board and Superintendent objecting to the majority board’s decisions to impose a change to working conditions and unfair bargaining the last two months. Implementing the board decisions violate the terms of our contract and are examples of unfair labor practices as defined by the Public Employment Relations Board. In fact, TVUSD was served with the first Unfair Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board last week.
Side stepping the bargaining process and contract to change working conditions is not an option. TVUSD needs to rescind these policies and come to the table to engage in a fair and good faith bargaining process.
