- Thursday, October 19, 2006 the PTSA meeting at the Middle School will include Q&A with the teachers representatives at 7:30 p.m.
- Monday, October 23, 2006 is the next School Board Meeting at 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, October 25, 2006 the LNES PTA will include Q&A with the teachers' representatives.
We've been at an impasse with no new information or answers to the questions people most need to have answered (specifically what the teachers want that has not been offered). We do need to see these two parties back at the table. In that regard the teachers have offered to talk and as far as we can tell the school has declined.
At the very least, the District ought to explain why it does not want to meet with the teachers and/or why they appear to have declined the latest opportunity to have discussions.
The other question to be answered is if a fact-finder has been assigned and if so, when the 40 day period will expire. At that point in time the teachers could again decide to strike.
Right now its looking like it could be a longgggg winter break.
7 comments:
I agree that both sides need to get to the table and negotiate. The problem, from what I understand, is that the NAEA has not given the board any type of counter-offer.
The NAEA has stated repeatedly that it wants to sit down and negotiate. Well, it's a two way street. Submit something to the board to negotiate.
In order to negotiate, both positions need to be established. From there, both sides give/take a little as to come to an agreement somewhere in the middle.
Returning to the table without an offer from the NAEA is not negotiating.
You're right. There was an article in the express-times that alludes to this point (the link is below). It notes that the Board wanted to receive an offer before negotiating, and then at the very end says that the NAEA stated they did make a final offer at the last session.
Maybe now that the NAEA has a web site they could post their final offer that was made, just as the district did with their final offer. Then the people could see both offers as well as the two parties.
http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1161144537291000.xml?expresstimes?npa&coll=2
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Darn, looks like the link was cut off, I'll try again:
read the article here
I live in a school district that was on a month long strike last year and it was frustrating for both sides. The strike really hurt the students , ex: getting recommendations written for college and without saying we had not breaks all year. If you are interested visit the website, Stop the teachers strike in Pa. I think you may find this somewhat informative . Thank you for your time.
From the recommendation above, I went to the website. From there I went to the PSEA website.
What an eye opening site. Right there at the top of the PSEA page is the following:
PSEA members who live in the northern counties often joke that there are more deer than members in their region. The pace of life is slower, the communities less affluent and in most cases, the economy is stagnant. Yet, PSEA members who live in these counties enjoy very good salaries and low or no contributions to health care costs.
Okay, so PSEA realizes that the local economies are stagnant yet they continue to demand higher and higher salaries with "low or no contributions to health care costs"!! I think these people are out of touch!
I find it interesting that the NAEA on their site contrast the current pay scale against the pay increases for administrators.
First, I think it was a stupid move on the board's part to give such large raises to administrators knowing there were upcoming contract negotiations with the teachers. Personally, I think if they reversed the admin pay raises, that would be a good thing as I don't think, based on recent activity (or lack there of) that any of them really deserve it.
However, as the site also contrasts salaries against surrounding districts, they should also contrast the length of the school day. I have done some simple searches and have come to find that Nazareth has about the shortest day in the area.
So, it is quite easy to calculate the hourly rate for each district and do a simple comparison at that level. The net of it is, the Nazareth teachers are paid just about the same amount (give or take a few pennies) as teachers in surrounding districts if you look at it on a hourly basis.
So, if they want larger salaries, let's make the school day longer, so then their comparison will actually be valid.
So, let's see the teacher's tell us what they want, in a public forum, then both sides can get back to the table and complete negotiations.
If the teachers don't like what they get, then I suggest that they start looking for other positions in other districts that will give them what they want.
THAT is what the rest of us in the real world do when we don't like our situation.
I agree. Turning back the ill-deserved pay raises would be a start. I would also like to see the shorter school day addressed. If we are comparing salaries, we should also compare length of workday.
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