Local News - State fact-finder recommends smaller raises for Mullica Township Teachers
Mullica Twp - A state fact-finder's report has recommended raises for teachers in Mullica Township that are much lower than what the teachers wanted and more in line with what the governor and a state cap may require.
In a report dated July 9, fact-finder Susan Wood Osborn recommended teachers in the rural Atlantic County school district receive raises of......Continue Reading
3 percent for last year, about 1.3 percent for this school year and 3.7 percent for 2011-12. The teachers also have begun paying 1.5 percent of their salary toward their health benefits, as required by a new state law.
The Mullica teachers contract expired June 30, 2009.
The report acknowledges the current economy and district financial difficulties but also says teachers should not be expected to solely bear the cost of the recession.
"The wage increases I am recommending here are far less than what the (Mullica Township Education) association has asked for, in recognition of the recent statewide trend of low increases," Osborn wrote in her recommendations. "On the other hand, the teachers cannot be expected to sacrifice every year of the contract. They are entitled to at least keep pace with inflation."
Officials from the New Jersey School Boards Association and New Jersey Education Association said the report seems to indicate that the state's fact-finders are increasingly recognizing the effects of the recession in their decisions.
NJEA spokeswoman Kathy Coulibaly said the report shows the negotiations process works, if sometimes a bit slowly. She said this was the first year that state aid to schools was dramatically cut.
"When teachers were not well paid, it took a while for them to catch up," she said. "But the process is responsive to the market."
The Mullica teachers union had requested raises of 4.5 percent in 2009-10, 4.25 percent in 2010-11 and 4.25 percent in 2011-12. The district had offered a wage freeze for 2009-10, a 3 percent raise for 2010-11 and 3.2 percent for 2011-12. Teachers already paid $400 toward their medical benefits. The new 1.5 percent law raised that amount to an average of $854 based on an average district salary of $56,890, the report states.
A June analysis by The Press of Atlantic City of state fact-finders' reports in 2009 and 2010 found they had continued to recommend salary increases for teachers of at least 4 percent even while private-sector raises had dropped below 3 percent. The fact-finders' decisions were often based on comparisons of contracts in neighboring districts, most of which had been settled before districts began to feel the effects of the recession.
In the Mullica decision, Osborn recognizes that teachers in other districts in Atlantic County received raises of 4.5 percent or more during 2009-10. But she said more recent raises have been less than 4 percent, and that the cost of living had increased just 2 percent. She also acknowledges the legislation that would place a 2 percent cap on school spending, although that bill had not been passed when she was doing her analysis.
The Mullica Township Education Association had already agreed to accept the fact-finder's recommendations. President Barbara Rheault said the results were not quite what they were expecting, but they realize times are tough.
There is still some disagreement about the implementation of the recommendations, and the teachers and district still do not have an agreement. Rheault said they do plan to file for additional mediations, the next step in the process.
"We just want to make sure we're not going backwards," she said, noting that the raises are much smaller when the 1.5 percent health insurance payment is included. She said teachers would actually fall behind this year, when the overall average salary increase would be about 1.3 percent.
District Solicitor William Cappuccio said the school board is happy with the report, and he hopes an agreement can be reached without the added expense of further mediation. He said district officials contacted Osborn asking for clarification of the disputed issues.
Cappuccio said it has always been a gamble to go to fact-finding because the recommendations always seemed to favor the teachers.
"This is the best report I've ever seen from a fact-finder," Cappuccio said. "The school board held their ground this year, and it paid off. That never happened in the past. "
Contact Diane D'Amico: 609-272-7241 DDamico@pressofac.com
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