IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO (KIFI)– After months of negotiations and two federal mediators, Idaho Falls School District 91 teachers can finally continue the school year with a new collective bargaining agreement.
“We’re here today to attempt to ratify another form of the contract that was a failed vote in August. And in between last time in this time, we presented some important issues,” said Jake Snarr, Idaho Falls Education lead negotiator and band teacher at Taylor View Middle School.
Some of the new terms of the contract voted on in Wednesday’s meeting were leadership stipends and Christmas bonuses.
Some terms they had proposed, did not make it into the contract.
“There’s a few of those things that did not make it into this contract, including the association president’s right to speak at a board meeting. But we feel okay about that because that’s still in board policy,” Snarr said.
Snarr believes that the issues they faced were caused because of Idaho’s Legislature.
“I think a lot of the issues that we’ve had through these negotiations coming down to, the Legislature. The district and the association would both agree that the Legislature needs to do more to fully fund public schools,” Snarr said.
To support teachers, Snarr mentioned to reach out to your local legislator and talk about why public education is important.
“There’s a lot of opportunities that students have within the public school system, and we really want to lean on that, because that’s the state’s constitutional obligation to fully fund and provide for public education in Idaho,” Snarr said.
