By Andrew Hackmack
The agreement ends negotiations that had stretched into a second school year.
The Central High School District Board of Education must still approve the deal, but those close to the negotiations expect that to happen, since all of the board's members sit on the elementary school boards. District 30 was the first to approve the new contract on Sept. 22, followed by District 13 the next day and District 24 two days later. The next business meeting for the high school board is Oct. 14.
The teachers' association has been without a contract since June 30, 2007. The new deal, once ratified, will be effective retroactively to July 1, 2007, and run through June 30, 2010. It calls for a 3 1/2 percent cost of living increase each year, and will include two delayed increases.
District 24 Superintendent Dr. Ed Fale explained that money for raises was included in the 2007-08 budget, and is available for back payments. "That's right in the range of what we had anticipated," he said of the negotiated increases, adding that it is comparable to what others teachers' unions on Long Island have been getting. "It's a very fair contract, I think," Fale said.
Under the agreement, teachers would be required to spend more time with students. Every faculty member in all four districts would have to be available for extra help after school once a week for 35 minutes. "The kids are going to see their teachers more frequently," said Richard Zuckerman, the districts' attorney.
Zuckerman explained that both sides agreed that it would be beneficial to increase student-teacher interaction time; it was a matter of ironing out the details. "It was pretty clear to me," he said, "that the union and the districts were in agreement from the get-go that we should do what we could to improve student education."
Patrick Naglieri, VSTA's vice president and negotiations chairman, said the issues at stake were no different than what gets negotiated in any other school district. "Like the rest of Long Island," Naglieri said, "the issues always seem to revolve around salary, benefits and working conditions."
Teachers ratified the deal the third week of September. Though their approval was not unanimous, Naglieri said the deal was supported by a strong majority. "Most people prefer to work with a contract than without a contract," he said. "The uncertainty causes a lot of unnecessary angst."
Zuckerman noted that negotiations were slow early on, when the high school district board decided to negotiate on its own instead of with the elementary districts. Eventually, the four districts did negotiate together, though there are some provisions that are unique to the high school faculty. An agreement was reached in early September.
"I think that this is a very fair and equitable agreement for our teaching staff, our school districts and our taxpayers," Zuckerman said.
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