IA teachers demonstrate for better pay, new agreement

TROY — On Oct. 14, the teachers of the International Academy’s four campuses demonstrated before the start of classes on Rochester Road near the Troy campus.

The demonstration was regarding negotiations over their letter of understanding with the school’s administrators that outlines issues such as teacher pay and the school year calendar.

“(IA teachers) work more days and more hours than their home district teachers do,” explained Tony Lucchi, the Troy Education Association president. “They are looking for changes because they work a longer calendar and perform different duties than their counterparts. They want compensation that will offset that extra work.”

International Academy schools are structured differently than most other schools due to being formed from a consortium of other districts.

“There are 13 districts which are part of a consortium agreement,” said Lucchi. “That is an agreement created about 30 years ago that established a relationship between these districts to have an International Baccalaureate program at three different high schools in Oakland County. Each district has slots for students, and each district supplies teachers. We have one campus in Troy, one in Bloomfield and one in Huron Valley. Those three schools are linked because they all follow the International Baccalaureate program.”

The agreement being negotiated is a letter of agreement between the teachers in the IA schools and their administrators.

“(The three schools) have different working conditions compared to most other districts, the specifics of which are covered by a letter of agreement, which is at issue right now because that letter of agreement has expired, and the teachers have been requesting changes to that agreement, and the 13 consortium districts have been negotiating with them,” said Lucchi.

The letter of agreement was originally established in 1991 and was renegotiated most recently in 2017.

Patrick Griffin, the principal of the International Academy in Troy, wanted families with children attending the schools to rest assured that this process would in no way affect classes.

“All of our teachers are still working and still getting paid,” he said in an email. “They are still under contract and receiving all of their benefits as this process goes on. It doesn’t affect any other schools in Troy or the other communities, just the International Academy buildings.”

He went on to say that the negotiations were going well and he expected a positive resolution for both sides soon.

“We do appreciate and value our teachers. We have been engaged in the negotiation process the last few months,” Griffin wrote. “It’s taken longer than we hoped. We usually try to get this done before the start of the school year. We have accomplished a lot, but we are still discussing stipend pay and when the last day of school will be. Our next mediation meeting is next week, and we hope to have it wrapped up by then and establish a new letter of understanding.”

Lucchi confirmed that the teachers are still at work, but that they want a better agreement for the future.

“They are still doing everything that was part of the original consortium agreement. They are still teaching and going above and beyond in every respect. They do amazing work, and the success of the (IA) program is evident in the students’ test score rankings and the overall rankings of the schools. The teachers feel undervalued and underappreciated. There has only been one significant increase in their wages since 1991, and that was $50 for the entire school year,” he said. “These teachers could be earning more if they took the extra hours they are working and went to work those hours in a fast-food restaurant instead.”

He added that a new deal would likely be in place for the next three to four years.

“The agreement would be for a multiyear deal, likely three or four years, so they don’t have to go through this process each year,” said Lucchi. “We’re having these events at each of the three campuses, and we just want people to know that our teachers are working without an agreement. We know this can be a frustrating process, but it’s something we need to be doing for our teachers.”

The teachers who demonstrated on Oct.14 said they simply want to be compensated fairly for performing an important job that can often be challenging and time consuming.

“They are not asking for the stars and the moon,” Lucchi remarked. “They are just asking for an acknowledgement that the times have changed, the cost of living has changed and this extra work has to be adequately compensated for.”