Students, parents: Save teachers' jobs, settle contract

Members of the Malverne Teachers’ Association stood together at the back of the library at the June 7 Board of Education meeting, facing administrators and board trustees. With the exception of occasional cheering and applause, they were silent. They did not send a spokesperson to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. But then, they didn’t have to. Residents and students spoke on their behalf.

“To me, a teacher’s contract validates our relationship as parents in the community with them. They are our professionals,” said Ed Kubik, a parent with two children in Malverne schools. “A contract is important — very important to them. They need to know where they stand … they need to know what that contract says, what compensation they’re going to receive, what conditions they’re going to work under. And without making sure this contract happens, there’s some kind of breach in this relationship that we have with them.”

The MTA’s contract expired last July and formal negations with the board began two months later, but reached a standstill by December. Board President Dr. Patrick Coonan had told the Herald at that time that “there is too much uncertainty in Albany to make any definitive money deals.”

Although Coonan would not say more about negotiations during the board’s meeting, he did say dates have been set for further meetings with the MTA’s negotiating team.

Suzanne St. John, a mother of four Malverne students, asked the board to find ways to save more teacher jobs. She acknowledged that the district is bound by the state’s “last in, first out” policy to lay off the newest teachers first, but still encouraged the board to re-evaluate its layoffs.

“We’re losing a lot of really good people this year,” she said. “There’s got to be a way to save more of these people’s jobs. … A lot of the ‘last ins’ have the energy to do what needs to get done.”