Teaching Profession

Once Bitterly Divided, N.J. District Achieves Accord

By Bess Keller — May 03, 2005 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

It was an ending to teachers’ contract talks that only cockeyed optimists in Middletown, N.J., would have been likely to predict a year ago: praise for both sides, hugs all around, and an agreement ratified more than two months before the current one expires.

Not in more than 30 years have the Middletown Township district and its teachers’ union come to terms before a contract was up. Moreover, strikes preceded both of the last two contracts—the second one, in 2001, landing 228 Middletown teachers in jail for as long as three days.

But now, observers say, that bitter legacy has waned.

“It was amazing,” exulted activist and parent Marianne C. Kligman about the agreement and the good feelings swirling around it. “The rancorous past of the last 10 years is behind us.”

The three-year contract approved last month calls for average teacher-salary increases of 4.7 percent, 4.5 percent, and 4.3 percent. It also changes some aspects of the health-insurance plan, generating savings for the district while keeping teachers’ costs the same, according to district officials.

Joan Minnuies, the president of the school board, said the first- and second-year raises match the state average for those districts that have so far concluded negotiations this school year.

The increases require about a $150 annual property-tax increase on the average assessed home in the 10,500-student district, according to Ms. Kligman, a member of a committee formed about eight years ago to campaign for passage of school budgets at the polls.

BRIC ARCHIVE

Voters in the township approved a $102 million levy on April 19 as part of a $125 million school budget that is expected to pay for the raises next school year.

Salaries and health-care costs had been the sticking points through the last two seasons of contract negotiations. (“Bad Blood,” Sept. 29, 2004.)

The agreement also allows the relatively high-achieving district to devise new academic schedules related to students’ learning needs, such as 50 percent more math instruction in middle school and a possible additional period in the high school day.

Negotiating Differently

At an April 14 meeting that packed Middletown High School North’s cafeteria with first attentive and then jubilant parents and teachers, the school board voted 8-1 to accept the contract. Board member Thomas J. Conroy cast the only no vote.

The following week he was defeated in elections for the school board and budget.

Mr. Conroy said he was concerned about the cost of the deal, given tighter budget controls the state has imposed, which will be fully phased in during the 2006-07 school year. “I did not want to see 30-plus children in a class and/or programs cut or dismantled entirely,” Mr. Conroy said last week. “The agreement does not begin to address what is going to happen.”

The district’s ability to pay for the salary increases was helped by the coming early retirement of 50 of the district’s 900 teachers, who were drawn by an incentive plan, said Superintendent David L. Witmer.

BRIC ARCHIVE

The union also ratified the settlement on April 14.

At the meeting that evening, according to reports, Diane L. Swain, the longtime president of the Middletown Township Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association, hailed changes in the process that led to the settlement. She could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Minnuies said that after several slow-going months of talks, the board and the union agreed to a streamlined arrangement. From that point on, just two board members and two union leaders sat down together.

The board president said the respectful tone of the negotiations was supported by work throughout the district involving teachers, parents, and administrators in discussions about school improvement.

“A year of healing showed everybody it was so much better to get along,” Ms. Kligman agreed. “I think the community was so devastated by [the last strike], they would never want to revisit it.”

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession It Could Get a Whole Lot Easier to Teach in a Different State
The Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact would grant full licensing reciprocity to incoming teachers who move to a participating state.
5 min read
Illustration of a 3D map with arrows going all over the states.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Opinion I Quit Teaching for Ed Tech. Here's How It Turned Out
Before you leave the teaching profession for another career, here are some things to consider.
Amma Ababio
4 min read
Illustration of a professional woman at the door opening to a bright exterior with computer code in the air.
E+/Getty
Teaching Profession In L.A., Teachers and Parents Raise Money for Striking Service Workers
Many service workers cannot afford to miss work during the three-day strike. Teachers and parents are stepping in to help.
Delilah Brumer, Daily Breeze
3 min read
Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers of Los Angeles, with Max Arias, executive director of the Service Employees International SEIU Local 99 union, speak to thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District teachers and SEIU members rallying outside the LAUSD headquarters in Los Angeles Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
A crowd of attendees at a joint rally by United Teachers of Los Angeles and SEIU 99 gathers in front of City Hall on March 15, 2023, in Los Angeles, Calif.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Teaching Profession Q&A Los Angeles Educators Are Set to Strike. Will Teachers Elsewhere Follow Suit?
Unions in cities have become more aggressive—and low wages coupled with a demand for talent are giving them leverage.
6 min read
Thousands of LAUSD education workers calling on LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to use the district’s $4.9 billion in reserves to invest in staff, students, and communities rally at Grand Park in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on March 15, 2023.
Thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District educators call on Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to use the district’s nearly $5 billion in reserves to invest in staff, students, and communities at a rally at the city's Grand Park on March 15, 2023.
Keith Birmingham/Pasadena Star-News via TNS