Moorestown School Board Releases Info on Teacher Contract Negotiations

The Moorestown Board of Education is on the offensive in its continuing contract dispute with the local teacher's union. 

In an unusual move while negotiations are ongoing, the school board released a letter outlining the two sides' differing positions. (Click on the PDF at right to view the letter.) 

"No one is more interested in finding a fair settlement than the members of the Board of Education," the board said in the letter, which was posted on the district's website. "There is no gain in prolonging negotiations. In our attempts to find a settlement, both the Board" and the teacher's union, the Moorestown Education Association, "met an unprecedented 16 times. Unfortunately, the offers presented by the Board of Education and the MEA have always been, and remain vastly divided."

The two sides are awaiting a fact finder's report. The teachers' contract expired June 30, 2010. 

In a response emailed to Moorestown Patch, MEA leadership slammed the school board for making public details of the negotiations. 

"It is extremely disappointing that the board has chosen to undercut the fact-finder by communicating their selective and inaccurate version of the bargaining crisis to the community at this time," wrote Lisa Trapani, president of the MEA. "It shows a lack of respect for the process and for the authority of the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), the state entity which has oversight of the process."

According to the school board's letter, the teacher's union seeks a three-year contract with a 3.96 percent salary increase in the first year; 3.5 percent in the second year; and 3.73 percent in the final year. 

The school board has countered with a three-year offer of no increase in the first year and 2 percent in each of the second and third years. 

The board and the union also disagree over health benefits for teachers. The board has offered to switch to a different public-employee health plan that allows for flexibility in coverage; the union wants a private, more costly prescription plan, according to the school board's letter.

The union contends that its members will already have to pay more for health benefits due to recent reform legislation passed in Trenton.  

The board calculates the cost of its contract proposal at $2.5 million over three years, and the union's proposal at $5.82 million over the same period. 

That leaves a gap of roughly $3.3 million. 

"Increasing taxes cannot bridge this divide," the board said in its letter. "The fundamental truth is that if we increase salary and benefit costs by too great a margin it will come at the cost of programs and personnel."

The letter noted that budget constraints combined with increased costs have forced the district to eliminate 83 positions over the past two years. 

The union contends that the board can settle the contract without making deeper cuts. 

"The MEA negotiating team proudly stands by our research supporting why the Board can afford to provide a reasonable salary and benefits package for Moorestown's school employees," Trapani wrote. "We are eager to receive the state-appointed fact-finder's report sometime this summer."