No Talks Set in Teacher-Contract Dispute in N.Y.C.

By Jeanne Ponessa

The defeat of a proposed five-year contract by members of the United Federation of Teachers has left the union snarled in a verbal tug of war with the New York City school administration.

Chancellor Rudy F. Crew has received the school board's authorization to declare an impasse in negotiations with the city's teachers, a move that could open the door to outside mediation.

"It is clear that there is very little, if any, room for movement on the part of the parties to this contract," Mr. Crew said in...