Widely backed teachers’ contract approved in Montgomery

Teachers to get 5-percent pay hike in first year and 4.9 percent in second and third years

By: Jake Uitti
   MONTGOMERY — The Board of Education unanimously approved a new, three-year agreement Tuesday with the Montgomery Township Education Association, which represents 597 employees.
   The agreement includes a 5-percent salary increase for the majority of staff — teachers, clerical, educational support assistant, custodial and maintenance — in the first year, and a 4.9-percent increase for the second and third year of the contract. It also calls for an increased higher education tuition reimbursement cap for teachers.
   The agreement had been largely supported by the members of the MTEA, with about 97 percent of the union voting for the agreement.
   "Throughout the whole year, there were very intense, frank discussions," said board member Reginald Luke, chairman of the school board’s negotiations committee. "The contract speaks well for the strength of the teaching staff and the desire by the board to see the excellence that has been manifested to continue on to the next three years."
   The agreement expands the workday for teacher instructional aides and registered nurses to "coincide with the teacher workday," and a Tuesday to Saturday workweek option was added for custodial staff to minimize overtime costs.
   Health benefits were altered, with the option to add domestic partner coverage to an individual’s health plan, among other changes.
   To raise the higher education tuition reimbursement cap for teachers, the total funds available in the first year of the contract will be increased from $70,000 to $100,000. That will jump to $120,000 and $130,000, respectively, in the second and third years of the contract. Chris Crow, president of the MTEA, said he wanted to "deeply thank the board for making a commitment to guaranteeing the future excellence of this school district." He added, "We now have teachers who can afford to go back to graduate school and bring those degrees back to the classroom."
   Mr. Crow noted that the district has grown significantly and, because of that, many young teachers had to be hired to fill the added classrooms.
   Despite the high approval rate by the MTEA, however, the agreement met with some criticism at Tuesday’s board meeting.
   Dale O’Brien, an instructional aide with the district and resident of the township, said the instructional aides effectively took a pay cut with the new contract.
   "I don’t think we were represented fairly," Ms. O’Brien said. "The instructional aides at Orchard Hill and Village got about a 14-cent increase per hour after 25 minutes were increased to their day, and the aides at the high school and the middle schools got 50 cents to a $1.28 per hour decrease. That’s a lot."She added, "It always seems that the smaller groups like the instructional aides give things up. I agree that the teachers should have increases. My kids go to these schools, too, but I feel we were left out."
   After Ms. O’Brien spoke, board member Saul Rubinstein asked if changes could be made to the contract, perhaps to help the instructional aides. Interim Superintendent Sam Stewart explained that negotiations could not be reopened in public at the board table.
   Board President David Pettit noted, "I am sorry to hear that there were some groups that were not as satisfied as others. I look forward to having dialogue with the union going forward, working collaboratively, having this be a place where everybody is happy to work. But I think this particular agreement positions us very well, and I think the spirit of the negotiations with the union and the board was extremely productive."
   Mr. Pettit added, "We are pleased to have reached an agreement that benefits both parties, as well as our students."
   Negotiations for the contract began late last year. The new agreement is effective through June 30, 2009.
   In other business, Mr. Stewart said the district enrolled 79 more students this year than expected. "There may be students attending our schools that don’t live in Montgomery," he said. "We did get an anonymous tip on one student. We found out it was true and that person is not in Montgomery schools anymore. So I want to stress strongly that if you hear someone say that, get us the details and we will follow up."
   Mr. Stewart also noted that the bus transportation went "very well" during the start of school.