No New Teachers Contract After Thursday Meeting Between Teachers Union and Princeton School Board
The Princeton School Board and the teachers union met Thursday night, March 26, but did not come to an agreement on a new contract.
School board representatives and union negotiators are scheduled to meet with a mediator for the fifth time on April 9.
The two sides are not commenting publicly about negotiations, based on the recommendation of a state appointed mediator.
Teachers in the Princeton Public Schools have been working under the terms of an expired contract since July. The two sides have been unable to agree on health insurance contributions and salary increases.
Frustrated parents have been calling on both sides to compromise and end the stalemate.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
The union negotiators blew this badly by over-promising their membership that pay would go up during a 2%-revenue cap era, without a willingness to rethink healthcare. 30-something teachers are rightly disappointed, but a huge portion of Princeton Schools’ payments go to healthcare and pensions, which the union says are untouchable.
School board’s mistake was to give admin’s a “big” raise without realizing how this would look to teachers.
It’s a shame because our schools are so darn good and everyone acknowledges that the teachers are a big part. Still, I doubt many are resigning to take better paying jobs elsewhere.