Recently in Schools K-12 Category

Source: Council 13, Public Employee Press, Vol. 35 no. 6, November/December 2006
When the Altoona Area School District announced plans to privatize its transportation services over the summer, the members of Local 2952 feared the worst. But good contract language, solid labor-management skills, and tough negotiations saved the jobs and preserved most benefits of more than 40 members.
"It's a major accomplishment," said Staff Representative Ted Manna. The five-year contract with Student Transportation of America, which members approved in a 39-to-2 vote on July 17th, provides the same base pay as the previous contract, plus annual increases.
Nearly all of the workers' previous benefits were maintained. In addition, members of 2952 will receive a new longevity pay benefit.

Source: CHARLES WILSON, Associated Press, Wed, Dec. 06, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS - A new Daniels administration report recommends state government change the way it does business in a multitude of small to sweeping ways, from reducing overtime to possibly privatizing license branches. The efficiency report, ordered by lawmakers two years ago, was completed by the state Office of Management and Budget. It includes more than 100 recommendations for officials' consideration, some of which require legislative action and others that could be ordered by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Among the "operational" or administrative recommendations are some 24 possibilities for privatization, including state Bureau of Motor Vehicles branches, highway maintenance, school bus inspections and prison work-release programs.

Source: By Bill Jones, AFSCME Illinois On The Move November/December 2006 #103
“Crossing-Guards Left Standing at the Curb,” the local newspaper headlines read on Wednesday, Sept. 27, after an emergency Personnel Committee meeting to consider an agreement between the city and the local school district.
The Intergovernmental Agreement would have given the school district responsibility for all school crossing guards, meaning that three positions covered under our labor agreement, which expires December 2008, would be terminated from the city. The positions have been in AFSCME since 1988.

Source: By NATALIA E. ARBULÚ, The Republican (MA), Wednesday, November 22, 2006

SPRINGFIELD - City officials are hearing complaints from some parents about the quality of school lunches, while cafeteria workers claim they don't have enough staff to promptly prepare and serve food to pupils. On Monday, the Joint Ad hoc Committee of the City Council and School Committee listened to concerns about lunches since Sodexho School Services took over the food services program.

Source: By Susan Snyder, Philadelphia Inquirer, November 15, 2006

In 2002, the Philadelphia School District embarked on the nation's largest experiment in private management of public schools, with educators across the country watching. As the five-year anniversary approaches, the district's leadership is proposing to halve funding next fiscal year to the six private managers running 41 of the district's 270-plus schools. The managers include the for-profit Edison Schools Inc., which runs 20 of the schools. Such a move could further erode the privatization movement in public school systems, which never took off as envisioned, experts say.

Source: California State Auditor/Bureau of State Audits Summary of Report 2006-114 - October 2006

The California Children and Families Commission (state commission) contracts with media and public relations companies to conduct mass media campaigns related to various issues involving early childhood development and school readiness. We found a number of problems with the way it awards and manages these contracts. For example, the state commission allowed one of its media contractors to circumvent the payment provisions of a contract by paying invoices totaling $673,000 between February 2002 and December 2003 for fees and expenses of some of the contractor's employees. These payments violated the terms of the contract, which stated that payment was to be based solely on commissions applied to the cost of advertising placed by the contractor and prohibited the charging of other services or fees. As a result, the state commission paid for services it had not contracted for, effectively preventing that money from being used to further the other activities allowed by the contract, namely purchasing printed ad space or broadcast media time.

Source: Scott Stephens, Plain Dealer (OH), Thursday, October 26, 2006

The state's network of publicly funded, privately operated charter schools is constitutional, a sharply split Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The 4-3 ruling was a big win for charter school operators and removes the uncertainty that dogged the state's 305 charter schools and the 72,000 students who attend them.

Source: YaSHEKIA SMALLS, South Bend Tribune (IN), October 20. 2006 6:59AM

BUCHANAN -- Two startup petitions and "No Outsourcing" fliers and T-shirts are in place in Buchanan, where community residents are challenging the Buchanan Community Schools Board of Education's move to explore privatization. More than 70 Buchanan residents and school employees -- who call themselves the Concerned Citizens of Buchanan -- showed up at an informal meeting of the minds Tuesday night to address ways to combat the idea -- a possibility they claim neglects the value of school safety and security.

Source: By NATALIA E. ARBULÚ, The Republican (MA), Saturday, August 26, 2006

SPRINGFIELD - Sodexho School Services, the private company chosen to run the school district's food services program, has hired 224 former cafeteria workers. But the hourly wages offered to employees are significantly lower than what they would have made this school year under a negotiated contract with the city, said Judy R. Ceravolo, president of the Springfield Cafeteria Workers Association.

Employees stand to gain up to 75 cents an hour or lose anywhere from 90 cents to $3.50 an hour with Sodexho depending on their position.

Source: By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO, New York Times, August 23, 2006

Fourth graders in traditional public schools did significantly better in reading and math than comparable children attending charter schools, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Federal Education Department. ….. Edward J. McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the public employees’ union that is critical of charter schools, said the study “provides further evidence against unchecked expansion of the charter school experiment.”