Protesting teachers, Main Line school to talk

The Radnor Township School District and its teachers, who are withholding college-recommendation letters for seniors to protest a rancorous contract stalemate, plan to resume talks next week for the first time since Aug. 27.

The Delaware County district's 320 teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, and their union leader, David Wood, said their action was aimed at drawing attention to the dispute.

The protests by teachers, however, has drawn other protests - from parents and students.

In a letter distributed Tuesday night, three seniors asked the union "to drop its protest strategy."

Saying students were being "thrown into the cross-fire," they called upon the district and teachers to settle their differences.

On Tuesday, administration officials assured students at a morning assembly that guidance counselors were prepared to write the letters and that no deadlines would be missed.

Those recommendation letters, which extol students' academic careers and attest to their characters, are considered crucial in the college-application process.

In their letter, the seniors said the protest has added to their pressures. "College-bound high school seniors are among the most stressed people out there," they said.

All of Radnor's employees, including secretaries and aides, bus drivers and custodians, are working without new contracts.

Elsewhere, teachers in the Marple-Newtown School District, whose three-year contract expired June 30, continue negotiating with their school board. And talks are continuing between the West Chester Area School District and its secretaries and aides.

The Radnor teachers argue that they are paid less than their counterparts in similarly affluent communities and have endured a decade of slow salary growth.

School Superintendent Michael J. Kelly said in a statement Tuesday that the district had met with the union five times since January and that a state mediator had participated in the talks.

Tensions have escalated with the start of the school year. On Sept. 3, the teachers sent notes to 300 parents stating that they would not write recommendation letters before Oct. 1 - the date that they hoped to have a new contract.

Teachers also have been wearing black shirts as part of the protest.

"We want to emphasize the fact that we are not against the teachers," the students said in their letter. "We are simply fighting for our future."

Source: Philly.com