Negotiations between teachers and school board officials in Niles Community Schools are ongoing, but any progress seems uncertain.

In a letter to the editor submitted to the Star recently, board president Dana Daniels expressed disappointment in the Niles District Education Association’s rejection of a proposal made during negotiations last week.

“We were presenting a financial package,” Daniels said about the proposal.

The concept presented tied compensation to performance and revenue. The package would give teachers the ability to earn a base salary with an opportunity to earn more based on performance.

“The No. 1 thing that was stressed was the numbers are all negotiable,” Daniels added.

According to Daniels, teacher salaries and benefits account for a certain percentage of the district revenue in state aid — an amount he estimated at 54 percent.

Of that percentage, teachers would take their base salaries. For example, say that amount accounts for half of the 54 percent.

Teachers would then reserve from the second half the amount necessary to pay retirement and insurance costs, with the opportunity to pick their own insurance.

What would be left over would be an amount that Daniels said would be put into a “bonus pool” or “merit pay pool.”

“Teachers would be evaluated at four different levels” of performance, Daniels explained.

The first level, which could be considered unsatisfactory, would not net a bonus. For example, teachers would simply see their standard yearly salary.

But essentially, teachers would have earned points based on the number of years they’ve taught in the district and the levels of evaluation, which would each be worth a different number.

The overall point score would determine a bonus amount to be paid to teachers.

District officials remain in a tight spot as budget cuts loom and neither side of the bargaining table seems to be budging toward an agreement.

“We’ve been trying to figure out a way to tie state aid — our revenue — to costs,” Daniels said.

The proposal was immediately rejected by the teachers’ union.

“They said they would not be able to sell that to their membership; therefore, take the concept off the table,” Daniels said.

School districts across the country are looking for creative ways to budget and cut costs amidst devastating cuts. Though the concept of merit pay and bonuses is a topic being discussed as of late, there has been little evidence locally that any kind of new proposal would fly during negotiations.

“We spent a lot of time on this,” Daniels said. “So you’re disappointed that they wouldn’t even approach their membership with it.”

Pat Furner, of the Michigan Education Association, refused to comment on the proposed package, saying he’d rather do his bargaining at the bargaining table than in the press.

Furner said he was disappointed in the board’s actions of discussing the proposal publically.

When asked about the union’s perspective on how districts might handle such severe cuts to their budget in the coming year, Furner refused to answer that question as well, saying he believes his comments would be misconstrued.

The board has since offered the union another proposal, but as of press time, details regarding that package have yet to be released. Daniels said the board did not immediately reject the second proposal, but would study it. Daniels did say the offer was more traditional than the initial proposal.

The objective, however, has not seemed to have changed.

“We’ve got to be able to tie compensation and revenue together,” Daniels said.

There is no distinct timeline or deadline for when district officials and the teachers’ union need reach an agreement. The issue could still go into mediation.