Talks fail; Neshaminy teachers' strike set for Monday
Each side said the other needed to adjust its attitude. Classes will be canceled for 7,000 students, and the school year will be prolonged.
Talks fail; Neshaminy teachers' strike set for Monday
Teachers in the Neshaminy School District will go on strike Monday for the second time this year, their union announced Thursday, canceling classes and extending the school year.
“We told the district that the June 4 strike could be averted if they had an attitude adjustment and agreed to negotiate throughout the weekend, and they flatly rejected our offer,” said Louise Boyd, president of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers, in a written statement.
The district rejected weekend talks because “they wouldn’t get us anywhere,” school board President Ritchie Webb said Friday. He cited union negotiators’ “insults, innuendo, and useless platitudes” at Thursday’s closed negotiating session with two state mediators.
The district and the union have been locked in a bitter contract dispute for four years – the longest current impasse in the state. The union’s 633 teachers, guidance counselors, librarians and nurses have not received a raise since 2008, working under the terms of the expired contract.
The strike, like the eight-day walkout in January, will cancel classes for the district’s 7,000 students. High school seniors, who were scheduled to take final exams next week, will be exempt from each test missed because of the strike, according to the district’s website. Their June 13 graduation will proceed as scheduled, according to the website.
By state law, the 180-day school year must be completed by June 30, without weekend classes. That means teachers could stay out about 10 days.
The union notified the district on May 25 that it might strike Monday, depending on Thursday’s negotiating session, which both sides characterized as unproductive. The talks had been suspended since December because of the strike and a state-required arbitration that followed.
The findings from the nonbinding arbitration, issued last month, would cost the district $20 million for items including retroactive pay and continued bonuses for early retirement, Webb said. The school board uanimously rejected the findings, while union members approved them “with reservations.”
The next negotiating session is scheduled for June 12, but it will be canceled if teachers are on strike, Webb said.
Before Thursday’s session at Maple Point Middle School, about 55 residents -- including a handful of students -- held signs to show their support for the school board and opposition to the union’s tactics.
“This is really to show the NFT that they don’t have the upper hand,” said Michele Fay, one of the organizers of the demonstration. “They should just leave our kids out of it.”
After the January strike, Fay’s son, an honors student, told her he was struggling with his 10th-grade classes, she said.
"He has a 3.65 GPA,” Fay said, “and I don’t want the strike to affect it.”
Sue Hoch, another organizer, said the impasse has dragged on so long that “we don’t know what to do any more. This is all we have left.”
- Not really. I for one don't.
— vathi - It is amazing how the climate has changed in the last 5-6 years. Before when the economy was great and people in the private sector were making lots of money no one cared that the teachers were underpaid. Now that that the economy is bad all of the sudden the teachers have become an "elite" class. Really?
I also don't understand were people got this idea that if you work for the public sector you are not supposed to make a good living. Why not? You expect your company to pay you a salary that provides a good living to you and your family so why not the public workers? Is it because you consider yourselves better than them?
To me it is very simple: You get what you pay for. If you want good education, services to help your kids, your home value to increase (or in this market stay the same), you have to pay for it. All these stupid comments about replacing and firing are just that STUPID. First good luck finding teachers that would want to work under the board that fired all of its teachers and if you find some chances are that it is because they couldn't get a job anywhere else.
Bottom line is that there has to be a middle ground somewhere. From the looks of it, the board is refusing to even try to find it. So good luck with that idea.— vathi - Here is a video that can help you see things a little more clear:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43996175#43996175— vathi - @BucksDave--Well, as long as you "feel" the teachers are overpaid then OK it must be so. Maybe that's why you are unable to calculate the value of education because instead of thinking and calculating, you "feel."— mick-of-the-moment
- Collective bargaining does not work and was never intended for public sector jobs that serve the public good. Governor - fix this and motivate your legislature to take action by banning this unproductive and unworkable process.— Northcountry
- And at the end of the day, the only ones who are really hurt in this entire mess are the students. Great feeling for the graduates that their big day that they worked hard to achieve could be delayed by a strike. Nice job everyone.— mauijim3
- The results of our education system are a joke.The pay for teachers is way above reason. The kids can't read,can't count'can't think and the teachers want more pay for the poor product they produce. Michelle Rea had it right when she was in D.C.She was willing to give bonuses to teachers that produced and "can"the ones who were shuffling their feet . The union was apoplectic. WHAT! Actually reward good work and fire drones?. Union is an other word for mediocrity. The next time I hear a union teacher tell me that they are "doing it for the kids", I think I'll puke. Be happy you have a job. ! Shut up and work. Those that can do and those that can't teach!!!
— P.T.from Philly - you can't teach anything if you can't do it. case in point- andy reid. you obviously have no respect for teaching.
- You must mean Michelle Rhee, right? The one who was run out of D C on a rail. The one who spent less than four years in a classroom. Who got the mayor voted out after one term because he brought her in and would not fire he after it was obvious what a disaster she was. Who now makes $50K a pop for speaking engagements fronting for her phony reform group. Who is now refusing to answer questions about all of the cheating that happened on her watch. Is that the one you mean?— brinsley
- The one who publicly advocates replacing all experienced teachers with Teach for America interns who have not yet earned their education degrees. Many TfA teachers are fantastic, but all of them need to be mentored by experienced teachers. Rhee complains that such teachers cost too much money and advocates firing them before their salaries get too high. Under her system, no one would teach long enough to retire. Who would want to take a job in a school district where every year your chances of being unemployed increased?
— Devoted Teacher - michelle rhee lied about her achievements which are the basis for her expertise. she is in it to get her face on tv.
- michelle rhee lied about her achievements which are the basis for her expertise. she is in it to get her face on tv.
- If the anti-teacher writers had real reasons to oppose the teachers, they wouldn't have to lie. For example, 3rd and Brown wrote that teachers have gotten raises because of the increment step system. That statement is totally false as no increments have been given for the four years of the contract. In other words, teachers starting on step one of the contract four years ago are making the same salary as they did in 2008. No increments have been granted--even for those teachers who have earned higher degrees. delcopa continues to spew his false venom. Teachers did not opt to freeze their salaries and continue under the old contract because of benefits. People who praise the board for refusing to negotiate, refusing to compromise, and insulting the teachers are just greedy and selfish people who are resentful of people who are educated. The fools who write that government workers should have no rights forget that this horrible economic downturn was caused entirely by the private sector. Yet these worshippers of the private sector want even less regulation to stem such financial swindles. However, I'm not surprised considering the education level of the commun ity.— Drumgoole
- Hey Brinsley. Get as copy of "Waiting for Superman' and then tell me how the union is pro kid. Yeh, that Michelle Rhee.— P.T.from Philly
