Main Line teachers protest lack of contract

To protest their lack of a contract, Radnor Township School District teachers said they felt they needed to make a bold move that would get the attention of those who didn't know, or care, that they were working without a new agreement.

"People weren't really concerned about it," said David Wood, president of the 320-member Radnor Township Education Association.

So on Sept. 3 the association sent a letter to some 300 parents of high school seniors telling them they will not write college recommendations before Oct. 1, when they hope to have a new pact.

The teachers succeeded in getting attention throughout the high-achieving district - and drawing criticism.

"We understand that the parents are going to be angry with us," Wood said.

Students are not feeling too good either. On a senior-class Facebook page, student Henry Minning wrote a long post saying that for students like him applying to military academies, the deadline is Oct. 2. He said he and several others had asked for recommendations but were turned down.

"This is WRONG. While I support the teachers in trying to negotiate a fair contract, it is not fair for students to be used as leverage in part of contract negotiations," he wrote.

Since the teachers have been wearing black shirts to protest their stalled negotiations, Minning suggested that seniors wear white shirts this week and ask teachers to lift the ban on writing recommendation letters.

"Teachers have not turned down students. They've asked them to come back on Oct. 1," said Wood, adding that letters can be quickly written and sent to meet the Oct. 2 deadline.

He said teachers sent the letter to parents so that they wouldn't upset the students, but the potential consequences of their actions "got blown out of proportion."

The teachers, whose contract expired Aug. 31, feel their salaries have fallen behind those in surrounding districts during the last decade. Their last contract was extended for two years.

Wood said that over the years teachers have tried several strategies to get parents on their side, including holding informational meetings and asking them to write to the school board, but "none of it was really successful."

Even before this recommendation ban, "the truth is they hate us," Wood said of parents. "So we need to do whatever we can do to get the district to negotiate in a fair way."

"As far as hurting children, we have no intention to hurt children," he said. "No child has been hurt. No child has been affected by it at this point."

Kimm Doherty, the school board president, said in a statement on the district's website that board members "were surprised and disappointed by" the college letters holdup.

She said that the most recent negotiation session was held Aug. 27 and that the two sides expect to meet again in two weeks.

"School board members and administration were not aware this letter [to parents] was being sent, and we remain dedicated to keeping the negotiations from having a negative impact on our students," she said.

Letters from teachers and counselors praising students' academic careers and characters are crucial for college applications, which some seniors send out as soon as school starts.

According to a site operated by the Commonwealth Foundation, openpagov.org, for 2013-14 the median for all salaries was $86,050 in Radnor; $86,400 in Tredyffrin/Easttown; $97,785 in Upper Merion; and $108,752 in Lower Merion.

Teachers aren't the only district employees working without a new contract. Radnor has failed to sign pacts with two other unions, representing bus drivers and maintenance staff, and secretaries and aides.

Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman David Broderic said Monday that members of about 330, or 30 percent, of its affiliates statewide were working without contracts.

Source: Philly.com