Wantagh teachers seek new contract

Teachers in the Wantagh School District, who have been working without a contract since the start of the school year, say they do not want to go much longer without an agreement.

That was the message sent to the Board of Education at its June 18 meeting, attended by close to 200 teachers and filled much of the auditorium. They all wore black shirts with red lettering that read “Wantagh United Teachers” on the front, and their last names and the last two digits of the year they started working in the district on the back. Over the course of a half hour, they each came to the microphone and spoke about themselves.

Wantagh United Teachers President Tom Vereline said that for his members, teaching in Wantagh is more than a job. “We’re part and parcel of the community,” he said, adding that many teachers are Wantagh graduates or live in the district now. “We’re not just people showing up and collecting a paycheck.”

The last negotiating session between the two sides was April 27. “As you know, the negotiation process more often than not provides challenges for both parties,” said Board of Education President Anthony Greco. “The Board of Education has negotiated in good faith with each of our units, and will continue to do so.”

Greco added that he and his fellow trustees believe Wantagh has the finest teachers, aides and monitors. He said the board does appreciate them, and that the students benefit from them every day.

At issue, Vereline said, is the Board of Education’s desire to have teachers take a hard salary freeze during one year of a new contract. That would mean no percentage raises or longevity-based step increases.

Vereline said that a hard freeze is unacceptable, but teachers have been sensitive to the financial pressures facing the school district. He said that when the last contract was settled, the property tax cap had yet to be passed into law, and yet teachers agreed to a deal that anticipated it and limited salary increases.

That previous four-year contract expired on June 30, 2014.

“We understand with the property tax cap, there’s not much money out there,” he said. “That’s true of every district.”

Under New York state law, terms of the old contract remain in effect until a new deal is reached. Teachers received their step increases at the beginning of this school year, but Vereline said union members are willing to forgo retroactive percentage raises for the 2014-15 school year.

Vereline explained that once teachers have been with the district for a while, they don’t move up steps every year. For example, he said, a teacher who reaches 20 years with the district remains on that level until advancing a step at 25 years. If there are no percentage increases, a teacher “locked” on that step gets no raise, he said.

The cost of living has risen a collective 8.4 percent over the past five years, based on numbers from Social Security, but Vereline said that teachers at the top step have seen their salaries rise only 4 percent.

Wantagh United Teachers has about 250 members. “It’s morale,” Vereline said. “It gets people down to think that we can’t settle this.”

“We have been patient,” said David Garey, an English teacher at the high school. “For a year we have shown up every single day. I do not think there was a single student in this district that knew we were working on expired contracts. We continue to show up time and time again to go well beyond what is expected of us, and we do it happily.”

Garey added that in addition to being teachers, they are also taxpayers and see both sides of the coin. He received a standing ovation from the teachers after speaking, and asked the board to see both sides as well.

Vereline said that teachers want to get the contract settled soon, and he wants board members to meet face to face with union negotiators. Previously, he said, an attorney for the school district was going back and forth between the two sides. A negotiating session was set for June 23, after press time. “Actually meet with us, come sit down with us and let’s make a deal,” he told the board last week.

“We are hopeful that a settlement will be reached during that session,” Greco said.

Matthew Rachek contributed to this story. Have an opinion on it? Send a letter to the editor to ahackmack@liherald.com.