The Quakertown Community School District should take a big lesson from a neighbor to the north, Easton. The school board up there has admitted that the five-year contract it gave the teachers two years ago was a mistake. Yes, unlike our local administrators, who have seemingly ripped out their dictionary pages with words starting M-I-S, the Easton board actually 'fesses up to its errors. They knew that if the union did not renegotiate the terms - specifically salaries and benefits - the district would have been bankrupted. They took a hard, hard line. And it worked.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the story is that the Easton Superintendent, Susan McGinley, did not side with the teachers. In fact, she threw the book - the dictionary - at them, uttering profanities like "layoffs". And after talking the talk, she walked the walk. Seventy-two instructors will be looking for new jobs next year. Not just phony retirements like QCSD slid through two years ago, when 41 teachers "retired", but 39 new bodies were quietly brought in. Easton will see actual layoffs, which actually cut the costs of payroll and benefits, and actually save millions of tax dollars. I'm truly sorry for those few who are let go, and their families, but the school systems must do what is best for the thousands of families in the district.
Even the president of the school directors, Patricia Fisher, did mea culpas for the entire board, saying that they voted "in a hurry, and without understanding how much it would cost over the five years".
Based on the recent history of QCSD, it would be a shock of 10.0 Richter proportions if that occurred here. The relationship between the teachers union, the Superintendent, and the board has been far too cozy. One suspects that neither Superintendent Andrejko, nor President Linda Martin, would be advocating for layoffs, and certainly not acknowledging that they have made big mistakes that might bankrupt the district. Or fighting their union buddies very hard. Andrejko's salary is tied to the teachers' contract. Martin owes well-documented political favors to Andrejko.
The QCSD teacher contract comes up for renewal next year. As in all major labor negotiations, the sides will start feeling each other out long before the deadline, and progress (very) slowly until both camps feel some pressure to actually get it done. But there are steps that can be taken now to help assure that the new contract favors the community, not the teachers, nor the administration, nor the school board:
> Above all, there must be absolute transparency in the negotiations. The community should see, and hear, everything that goes on. No more devastating late-night surprises. And it is important for everyone to understand how teacher contracts work. The proposed "yearly increases" publicly bandied about by both sides (and the media) are only the tip of the iceberg. In North Penn, for instance, teachers sought a three-year deal, with bumps of 3.5, 4 and 4 percent. Sound reasonable? But with the usual built-in raises based on length of service, and further education (of the teachers, not the students), this would have been an overall salary increase of over 18 percent.
> There must be reasonable mindsets, based on economic reality. Unlike the current QCSD contract, which is heavily weighted toward the union, the next one has to favor the taxpayers. Average teacher pay here now is over $75,000 a year, for 10 months work (not including the obscene benefits package). Average household income - $50,000, for 12 months work (if you can find it). And, of course, our high school student test performance is among the worst in Southeast PA. Raises should be out of the question, until we see better results. And teachers must contribute more toward their own benefits.
> No one from the administration - not Andrejko, nor the next business manager - should be leading the negotiations. No faction from the sharply-divided school board - not the big spenders, nor the reformers - should be calling the shots. QCSD needs negotiators that everyone can trust. The district should hire an outside consultant to evaluate the community's ability to pay, and the minimum needs of the schools. Make the report public. The numbers will determine what we are willing to offer. And that's it. No politics, no cozy arrangements, no giveaways.
> QCSD should hire the best labor law firm that our tax dollars can buy, with marching orders to hammer out the toughest contract possible. No matter what the cost, it will be far, far less than shouldering another contract like we have now. If that hard line leads to threats of a strike, let the teachers strike. Walk away from one of the highest salaries in the state. They have to be back in about a week anyway, and there won't be much sympathy for them around here. We then go to arbitration, like Souderton and Saucon Valley. Or Pennsbury, which has even gone so far as to reject the arbitrator's decision, because the board felt that the community just couldn't afford it.
And if there are teachers who decide that the new salary structure here isn't enough for them, let them try to go elsewhere - and see how easily they find a new, better-paying position in this economy. We'll quickly find out which teachers practice what many preach - that they are in it for the kids, not the money.