At Gov. Newsom’s urging, school labor and management groups agreed recently on principles to guide them as they switch to distance learning and continue providing meals for students in the months ahead. The 3-page “framework for labor-management collaboration” is not a mandate. By itself it won’t resolve acrimonious disputes over employee expectations, safety issues, hours and benefits that have slowed progress in distance learning in districts like Yuba City Unified and Sacramento City Unified. However, the document’s preface says, it could “spur collaboration” so that districts can get on with confronting the havoc created by the coronavirus.
“All districts and exclusive representatives should work together to find the best path for the students, the staff and communities,” it states. Signers include the major associations representing school administrators, school boards and business administrators, and unions representing teachers and support staff of hourly employees.
