Teachers deal hits snag

By: Dick Brinster
   Contract negotiations between the East Windsor Regional School District’s teachers and the Board of Education have hit a snag over the proposed salary guide, sources told the Herald this week.
   "They were getting ready to vote, and everything was rosy," said a source close to the union bargaining team. "Then all of a sudden, there was a total (information) blackout."
   That was confirmed by a source familiar with the board’s offer.
   "I don’t now exactly what happened," the source said. "There was supposed to have been a ratification meeting, and then something came up."
   Negotiators for both sides confirmed in August that a tentative agreement had been reached on a three-year deal to follow the three-year pact that expired June 30.
   Teachers union chief Jan Amenhauser said at the time that she was confident of ratification. She did not return calls this week seeking comment.
   Bob Laverty, a member of the school board’s negotiating team, who in August said the salary guide was the only issue of importance still to be resolved, declined to discuss the delay this week.
   A source close to negotiations predicted in July ratification by the teachers and easy acceptance by the board. Another source said at the time that restructuring of some items would save the board about $300,000 when the new contract is finalized.
   Another did not envision much of a change from the pay-increase percentages reached three years ago. At that time, pay for a beginning teacher increased from $38,470 to $42,620. The teacher highest on the pay scale, one with a doctoral degree and at least 22 years of experience, got $74,138, up from $68,515.
   There would be a change in medical insurance coverage in the new deal, a source said in the spring. The deductible would be raised as would the co-pay, which under the current deal is $10 for generic drugs and $15 for name-brand pharmaceuticals.
   Teachers would not be asked to contribute from their paychecks, the source said at the time. The policy of no contributions by the teachers, which board members say is the industry standard, drew criticism from some taxpayers at public forums in May for the then-proposed $79.2 million budget, which was defeated by voters.
   The governing bodies of East Windsor and Hightstown later shaved nearly a half-million dollars from the spending measure.
   The leadership of the East Windsor Education Association and a committee of three members of the Board of Education hammered out the tentative agreement in about a half-dozen sessions over nearly two months last spring and into the early summer.