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Negotiators narrow AI and outsourcing language; parties agree to revisit ambiguous sentence
Summary
Union negotiators sought contract language barring AI from replacing human teachers or reducing FTE; district and union agreed to remove one ambiguous sentence and to craft revised language that affirms value of human teachers while allowing use of AI as a supplement.
The April 10 bargaining session included extended discussion over proposed contract language to limit outsourcing and protect jobs from artificial intelligence. Negotiators agreed to remove a final, disputed sentence that union leaders said was ambiguous and to replace it with clarified first-sentence language that emphasizes the value of human teachers.
Why it matters: union members strongly urged contractual protections against AI replacing classroom teachers. District negotiators acknowledged the value of human connection but said they did not want to close off future options in ways that could be ambiguous or legally fraught. Both sides said the agreed text should address present conditions and leave a mechanism (a memorandum of agreement) for negotiating future changes.
What changed at the meeting - The union objected to a final sentence in the draft provision that read in part about not reducing total FTE, calling it ambiguous and potentially litigious over future hypotheticals. - Parties agreed in principle to revised wording that begins by stating both the district and association "highly value the benefits of human teachers and human connection in the classroom" and then states that generative AI and related technologies "will be used only to supplement, support, and enhance teaching and learning." The parties agreed to caucus further on exact phrasing but removed the most contentious final sentence for now.
Context and next steps District and union negotiators said that if technological circumstances change, they could negotiate an MOA to address the new realities. Both sides expressed interest in avoiding open-ended prohibitions that could create legal disputes, while protecting members' jobs in the current operating environment.
Ending Negotiators concluded the session with a plan to caucus and return with agreed language; no final contract language was adopted at the April 10 meeting.
