>Thursday, August 28, 2008
BY JOHN MOONEY
Star-Ledger Staff
With New Jersey’s public schools soon to open, teacher contract talks are so far seeing little shift in salary increases, but they are yielding some cost savings around health benefits, according to the state’s school boards association.
In about 80 contracts settled since January, salary increases are averaging about 4.57 percent, a little less than the 4.61 percent average last year, according to the association. Still, including contracts previously settled, the average increase for 2008-09 is so far roughly the same as last year’s.
But the association’s annual back-to-school report said more than 80 percent of the new pacts have provisions that reduce the public’s cost for teacher health benefits, from less expensive plans to requiring teachers contribute toward their premiums.
Among the latest contracts with cost-cutting moves were Kingwood and Tewksbury in Hunterdon County, Washington Township in Morris, and Newton in Sussex, according to the association.
In Newton’s new contract, salary increases average less than 4.4 percent over three years, and new hires will only be offered managed care plans while deductibles will rise in the traditional plans.
The estimates are sure to change, as more than 125 contracts are still outstanding going into the school year, a pretty typical number for the end of summer.
The New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers union, downplayed the salary averages or other contract developments with so many talks unresolved. “It’s a little too early to tell what the trends are,” said spokesman Steve Wollmer.
Of the contracts talks under way, neither side reported any impasses that are likely to lead to disruptions in the start of school. The state’s last teacher strike was in North Warren Regional in 2003.
But some are getting testy, including in the state-run Paterson schools where talks have been going on for nine months and are now in their third session with a state mediator. The union’s leadership said the district has proposed no salary increases, along with a longer school year and further givebacks in benefits.
“It is the worst proposal I have ever gotten from management: very, very severe and very, very anti-union,” said Peter Tirri, president of the 3,900-member Paterson Education Association. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”