Preparing for Factfinding Hearing

Your LNEA negotiations team is preparing for Factfinding, while continuing to explore and weigh every option to get the terms of your agreement for 2013-14 settled.
Movement for experience on the salary schedule (vertical movement) continues to be the sticking point.  The district has told us multiple times that they can fund salary schedule movement for teachers who are not part of the special education cooperative, but that the Superintendents' Advisory Board for the cooperative restricts them from doing so for special education teachers. 
For the first six months of negotiations, the district team insisted the cost of that movement for special education teachers was $196 thousand, and our team calculated that the cost was closer to $108 thousand.  They have offered a one-time payment of $500 per returning teacher. This is only about $20,000 short of the cost of moving teachers to the appropriate step on the salary schedule. When the district team told us February 10 that they agreed with our lower cost of movement calculation, we hoped a deal could still be reached, but it looks as if  we will proceed to the Fact Finding hearing soon.  
Mr. Charles Krider has been appointed factfinder in this case. He contacted us today, and we will let you know the date for the hearing once it is set.