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Why This Website
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
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CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
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Larkins OAH Hearing
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Ramona Unified’s Looming Strike: Checking Up
BY: WILL CARLESS
Voice of San Diego
APRIL 30, 2013
Things haven’t gotten any better at the Ramona Unified School District in the few months
since we last wrote about the district’s budgetary woes.
Ramona is the only school district in the county to have never
passed a bond measure. Last year, the district floated Proposition R, which would
have raised $55 million, a chunk of which Ramona Unified could have used to pay off old
loans it took out to renovate district schools in 2004. The bond failed, leaving district officials
scratching their heads as to how to pay off the old debts.
A few key things have happened since then, and the two sides in the dispute, the district and
the local teachers union, remain far apart in their assessments of how deep Ramona Unified’s
financial problems go, and how they should be fixed.
Let’s take a look at what’s happened.
Where We Left It
In December, the district was asking teachers to take a pay cut of almost 10 percent.
The district had declared an impasse in labor negotiations with the Ramona Teachers
Association and Superintendent Robert Graeff was playing down the district’s prior borrowing.
He said the repayments on the old loan accounted for just $500,000 of the estimated budget
shortfall of $3.5 million shortfall.
For its part, the union was blaming the district’s past decisions for putting teachers in a bad
spot.
“Even if we worked for free, they couldn’t pay off the loan, and it’s not fair to ask us to work for
free because they made a bad choice,” Ramona Teachers Association Donna Braye-Romero
told us at the time.
What’s Happened Since
After 18 months of negotiations between the district and the union failed to produce an
agreement on how to handle Ramona’s deficit, the district convened a “fact-finding” panel.
The panel of three representatives included one union rep, one district rep and a neutral
member who served as the panel’s chairperson.
The panel concluded that the district’s ability to continue to pay full salaries and health
benefits was “unsustainable.”
“For all these reasons, the chair concludes that the district meets its heavy burden of proof
and does have an inability to continue to pay personnel costs, including salaries and benefits,
at the current level,” the panel chairwoman wrote in her final report.
The two sides met once more after the report was released to try to come to an agreement.
They didn’t.
At issue, union President Donna Braye-Romero said, was both the extent of the salary and
benefit cuts teachers were being asked to take and the district’s insistence on an inflexible
multi-year agreement.
After the two sides failed to agree, the district imposed a contract on teachers that includes
salary cuts, mandatory unpaid furlough days and health benefit cuts. The amount each
teacher must absorb in cuts depends on his or her family situation, but the union estimates
the average teacher will lose thousands of dollars a month and said the cuts are draconian
and will lead to teachers losing their homes.
Aside from the size of the cuts, the union also opposed the district’s multi-year approach to a
labor agreement.
The state’s education budget is in remarkable flux at the moment. After voters passed
Proposition 30, there will now be a new flow of education dollars from Sacramento. But
nobody really knows how much each district will end up getting.
There’s further confusion over Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to radically change the way
school districts are funded.
For a small, rural district like Ramona, the governor’s plans could have a significant effect in
the next couple of years. But the governor needs to persuade the state Legislature to
approve his plan, and opponents to the move are already lining up.
Braye-Ramero said the union wanted the district to include “restitution” language in its
agreement with teachers. That would basically mean that if more money comes in in future
years, the cash goes to teachers. But the district would only agree to a clause allowing the
two sides to “reopen” or renegotiate the contract if the state’s finances improve, Braye-
Romero said.
Graeff said that sticking point was moot.
“My promise is that if the budget gets better, we will if course pass along those improvements
to employees,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we?”
For now, however, Ramona teachers are bound by the contract that’s been imposed on them.
Their only real option now may be to strike.
What Happens Next
The Ramona Teachers Association will hold a “strike authorization vote” on May 7. The vote
would essentially give union leaders approval to strike if and when they deem necessary.
Braye-Romero wouldn’t say whether she thinks a strike’s likely.
“I hope it doesn’t happen,” she said. “Nobody wants to go on strike.”
The union could conceivably reopen its negotiations with the district at any time. But that
doesn’t seem likely. California Teachers Association spokesman Bill Guy said Graeff appears
set on breaking the union.
“The superintendent is trying to bust the union,” Guy said. “At our meeting, we offered to take
the first-year cuts, just not all three years. They responded by saying that if we didn’t accept
the deal, they would impose even stricter cuts, and they did.”
Graeff said Guy was mistaken.
“What ridiculous person would say such a thing?” he said. “I was a member of the CTA for 11
years as a teacher. That would be a ridiculous assertion.”
BY: WILL CARLESS
Voice of San Diego
APRIL 30, 2013
Things haven’t gotten any better at the Ramona Unified School District in the few months
since we last wrote about the district’s budgetary woes.
Ramona is the only school district in the county to have never
passed a bond measure. Last year, the district floated Proposition R, which would
have raised $55 million, a chunk of which Ramona Unified could have used to pay off old
loans it took out to renovate district schools in 2004. The bond failed, leaving district officials
scratching their heads as to how to pay off the old debts.
A few key things have happened since then, and the two sides in the dispute, the district and
the local teachers union, remain far apart in their assessments of how deep Ramona Unified’s
financial problems go, and how they should be fixed.
Let’s take a look at what’s happened.
Where We Left It
In December, the district was asking teachers to take a pay cut of almost 10 percent.
The district had declared an impasse in labor negotiations with the Ramona Teachers
Association and Superintendent Robert Graeff was playing down the district’s prior borrowing.
He said the repayments on the old loan accounted for just $500,000 of the estimated budget
shortfall of $3.5 million shortfall.
For its part, the union was blaming the district’s past decisions for putting teachers in a bad
spot.
“Even if we worked for free, they couldn’t pay off the loan, and it’s not fair to ask us to work for
free because they made a bad choice,” Ramona Teachers Association Donna Braye-Romero
told us at the time.
What’s Happened Since
After 18 months of negotiations between the district and the union failed to produce an
agreement on how to handle Ramona’s deficit, the district convened a “fact-finding” panel.
The panel of three representatives included one union rep, one district rep and a neutral
member who served as the panel’s chairperson.
The panel concluded that the district’s ability to continue to pay full salaries and health
benefits was “unsustainable.”
“For all these reasons, the chair concludes that the district meets its heavy burden of proof
and does have an inability to continue to pay personnel costs, including salaries and benefits,
at the current level,” the panel chairwoman wrote in her final report.
The two sides met once more after the report was released to try to come to an agreement.
They didn’t.
At issue, union President Donna Braye-Romero said, was both the extent of the salary and
benefit cuts teachers were being asked to take and the district’s insistence on an inflexible
multi-year agreement.
After the two sides failed to agree, the district imposed a contract on teachers that includes
salary cuts, mandatory unpaid furlough days and health benefit cuts. The amount each
teacher must absorb in cuts depends on his or her family situation, but the union estimates
the average teacher will lose thousands of dollars a month and said the cuts are draconian
and will lead to teachers losing their homes.
Aside from the size of the cuts, the union also opposed the district’s multi-year approach to a
labor agreement.
The state’s education budget is in remarkable flux at the moment. After voters passed
Proposition 30, there will now be a new flow of education dollars from Sacramento. But
nobody really knows how much each district will end up getting.
There’s further confusion over Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to radically change the way
school districts are funded.
For a small, rural district like Ramona, the governor’s plans could have a significant effect in
the next couple of years. But the governor needs to persuade the state Legislature to
approve his plan, and opponents to the move are already lining up.
Braye-Ramero said the union wanted the district to include “restitution” language in its
agreement with teachers. That would basically mean that if more money comes in in future
years, the cash goes to teachers. But the district would only agree to a clause allowing the
two sides to “reopen” or renegotiate the contract if the state’s finances improve, Braye-
Romero said.
Graeff said that sticking point was moot.
“My promise is that if the budget gets better, we will if course pass along those improvements
to employees,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we?”
For now, however, Ramona teachers are bound by the contract that’s been imposed on them.
Their only real option now may be to strike.
What Happens Next
The Ramona Teachers Association will hold a “strike authorization vote” on May 7. The vote
would essentially give union leaders approval to strike if and when they deem necessary.
Braye-Romero wouldn’t say whether she thinks a strike’s likely.
“I hope it doesn’t happen,” she said. “Nobody wants to go on strike.”
The union could conceivably reopen its negotiations with the district at any time. But that
doesn’t seem likely. California Teachers Association spokesman Bill Guy said Graeff appears
set on breaking the union.
“The superintendent is trying to bust the union,” Guy said. “At our meeting, we offered to take
the first-year cuts, just not all three years. They responded by saying that if we didn’t accept
the deal, they would impose even stricter cuts, and they did.”
Graeff said Guy was mistaken.
“What ridiculous person would say such a thing?” he said. “I was a member of the CTA for 11
years as a teacher. That would be a ridiculous assertion.”
Ramona Teachers Association elects new president
By Pixie Sulser
June 21, 2013
Ramona Sentinel
Ramona High School math teacher and varsity softball coach Cori McDonald is the new
president of the Ramona Teachers Association.
She was elected by a 13-vote margin over incumbent Donna Braye-Romero. A total of 239
votes were cast: 126 for McDonald and 113 for Braye-Romero, who has been RTA president
for the past five years.
It was the second RTA vote this month, with election irregularities at the first prompting a
revote. In the first election, more votes than signatures came from one school and at another
school a person signed and voted for a spouse who was not on campus.
McDonald will join re-elected treasurer Jeanine Hawkins, vice president Michael Jordan II and
secretary Jennifer McSparran on the RTA Executive Board.
Ramona High School math teacher Cori McDonald, left, and Barnett Elementary third- and
fourth-grade teacher Nicole Brown review paperwork after the June school board meeting.
McDonald's term as Ramona Teachers Association president begins July 1. Sentinel
photo/Maureen Robertson
McDonald said her leadership goals will focus on building positive relationships with Ramona
Unified School District administration, teachers across the district and parents in the community.
“It’s important to make sure decisions are right for teachers, but also right for students,” she
said. “We all became teachers because we wanted to do what was right for kids. I think it’s
important we focus on the education of students while providing the best support possible for
our teachers. I hope to work with the district and the community exploring ways to improve and
repair facilities, upgrade technology, and facilitate teacher input for the implementation of the
common core standards.”
Education in Ramona is nothing new to McDonald. Two of her grandparents, Jean and Glae
McDonald, were longtime Ramona educators. She graduated from RHS where she was a four-
year member of the varsity softball team before playing at the collegiate level for Hope
International University in Fullerton.
Her professional life is also Ramona-based, with nine years teaching experience at Olive
Peirce Middle School and RHS. She has been an active RTA member as a site representative
the past seven years, first at OPMS and then at RHS.
Braye-Romero, a kindergarten teacher at Ramona Community School, said that she is most
proud of “taking the RTA from a service model where the members only came to the
association when there was a problem to a model where more members have a consistent
voice and an interest in ongoing situations.”
In addition to leadership involvement at the local level, Braye-Romero is involved at the state
level as a member of the California Teachers Association State Council and, more recently, as
a state representative on the National Educational Association Representative Assembly.
Her advice to any new president is to realize that “any decision may not please everyone, but
you need to make the right decision for the entire membership whether anyone is watching or
not.”
