Impact Statement from BEA re: Unethical Bargaining Tactics

Spring 2025

 Impact Statement 

We want to thank the District for agreeing to open bargaining where members of our staff and community can be witness to our bargaining process. I was ill the day of our last session and was unable to attend, but it really drove home the importance of access to the meetings. During our last bargaining session, the district presented a list of teachers and said that the union must select which 10 educators would be eliminated in order to fund the proposed 15% salary increase and COLA adjustments for years 2 and 3. This tactic was unethical, coercive, and an inappropriate method of collective bargaining. 

Furthermore, we note that no administrators were included on this list – only teachers. This raises serious concerns about equity in financial decision-making and the District’s commitment to prioritizing classroom instruction over administrative overhead. 

We did what is expected in bargaining. We came in with an ask, based on our research of surrounding districts, knowing that it was high but that as bargaining began that number would inevitably come down. 

Presenting a list of teachers to be terminated instead of discussing alternative budget solutions is a fear-based bargaining tactic that erodes trust between the district and educators. I was proud when I could tell people how good we had things in Bandon and that we were a really copesetic unit. This is no longer a true statement, and in the last month I have seen the impact that the districts choice last meeting has had on all of the certified staff. 

Now that we have had a chance to address the last bargaining session, we want to put this incident behind us and move forward in good faith bargaining.