Teachers Health Trust no longer issue in contract talks

After months of neither side budging, the school district has dropped its demand for the teachers union to give up the Teachers Health Trust it created, according to a Thursday announcement from the Clark County Education Association.

This doesn't bring the two parties closer to a contract agreement for the next two years. Replacing the trust, which provides teachers with health insurance, was never part of the $78 million in concessions that the district is seeking from teachers to balance its budget from 2011-13. The district sought the concession over the health trust to potentially save money, according to the union.

To close the $78 million hole, the district needs to freeze teacher salaries, and teachers must continue to pay into the state employees' retirement system.

The union has been adamant about not accepting the pay freeze taken by the district's support staff and administrators.

The union has held to this position despite the district's warning that if teachers keep their raises, the district must cut 1,000 positions to balance the budget instead.

"The district is focused on saving jobs and holding class sizes steady while the union is solely focused on raises in a downturned economy," district spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said. "Taking the health trust off the table was an act of good faith on our part. We'd like the union leadership to follow suit."

The district confirmed Thursday that it offered to drop the trust from deliberations.

"Details like these from arbitration meetings are legally bound to stay within the confines of those meetings," Fulkerson said. "Since the union is broadcasting details, we can confirm that this was one of many ideas put forth by the district in negotiations and a solid example of how serious we are about getting a contract in place that protects jobs and keep teachers in the classroom."

However, the fact remains that the union walked away from the negotiation table and hasn't offered any compromises, she said.

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@review journal.com or 702-383-0279.