Elected Consultation
An Idea Whose Time Has Come in La Joya
One of the major goals of the La Joya American Federation of Teachers is to achieve Elected Consultation for all employees within the district. With this in mind, employees of La Joya ISD will be hearing much about Elected Consultation in the coming months.
What is it? What are its benefits to employees? How can it be achieved? Are there other school districts where employees already enjoy Elected Consultation? The remainder of this article will attempt to answer these questions and give readers a basic idea about what it is and how it works.
Elected Consultation is not a new idea. The first district to achieve consultation was Corpus Christi in 1979. The idea has spread through most of the largest school districts in Texas and now exists in Corpus, Dallas, San Antonio, South San Antonio, El Paso, and Austin. If passed in La Joya, this would be the first district in the Rio Grande Valley to achieve it.
So what is it? Basically, Elected Consultation is a policy that allows a representative organization for non-administrative employees to sit across the table from the administration on a regular basis to discuss all matters regarding the employer/employee relationship. Any agreements reached in these discussions are then forwarded to the school board for ratification. Once ratified by the board, the agreements become policy.
As most readers are aware, there are several organizations representing non-administrative employees within the district including LJAFT, TCTA, and ATPE (ATPE represents administrators as well as non-administrators). The Elected Consultation policy would provide for a democratic election between these organizations for the right to represent all employees in the Consultation process.
Issues that reach the Consultation table are those that impact all employees or a specific group of employees within the district. For example, large numbers of bus drivers may be complaining that hours are distributed unevenly. It is up to the Elected Consultation agent to research the issue and bring it to the Consultation table for resolution with the administration. For individual issues, the grievance policy is still in place and any employee may use it (within policy timelines) to resolve problems that do not reach the Consultation table.
There are a few who will argue that all organizations should have a seat at the table rather than one democratically elected organization. It is LJAFT’s belief that this weakens the process, since it provides the administration with a means to divide and conquer non-administrative employees. The election of a single organization provides for “One Strong Voice” to represent the best interests of all employees.
The consultation process has already benefited many employees in school districts that have it. For example, in San Antonio (much like in La Joya), teachers felt the administration was too demanding regarding after-school meetings and staff development.
The issue was resolved by the San Antonio Alliance (the elected Consultation Agent) through the consultation process. Now, teachers have their workday defined in policy as 7.5 hours. Also, principals may only keep faculty and staff after school no more than ninety minutes every two weeks, and must give at least five days notice of before- or after-school meetings.
In Corpus Christi, transportation workers used the consultation process to set up an “All Star” program to determine priority in route selection, field trips, and summer work. The program awards points based on attendance, seniority, and driving record.
The Consultation process can be used to resolve many issues within any school district. As an organization representing all non-administrative employees, LJAFT hopes to see Elected Consultation established in La Joya. And in time, we hope to be the elected Consultation Agent for non-administrative employees.
As a reader of our newsletter, we would like to hear what you think about Elected Consultation. Feel free to call our office at (956)682-1143 with your questions or comments. Ask for Juan Luna or Evan Butcher.