District Admits It Was Not Aware of Many Longstanding Aspects of Teacher Contract
LANGHORNE, PA (March 18, 2013) — Leaders of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers said today that they are “astounded” by School Board President Ritchie Webb’s assertions on Friday that he and the Board were unaware of a large majority of 201 existing contract agreements with the teachers’ union, an omission that NFT Treasurer Marian Reed called “absurd and irresponsible on the part of the district.”
In a meeting on March 8, the NFT provided the district with 201 exhibits and side agreements —also called Memoranda of Understanding—that are part of the existing contract under Pennsylvania law. NFT leaders noted that the side agreements (a traditional practice in labor contracts) were developed over three decades by past union leaders and past district administrations, working collaboratively. NFT leaders said that at the March 8 meeting, district officials produced only 17 of the agreements. In later statements reported by the Courier Times, Board president Ritchie Webb was quoted as saying that the Board had “thought there were maybe 50 or 60” side letters.
NFT Treasurer Reed said, “Frankly, we’re stunned and perplexed by the district’s disorganization and confusion, and astounded by Mr. Webb’s comments. We presented 201 contractually binding pieces of this contract to the District at our meeting, some in place for decades, and they were aware of only 17 of them. Since 1980, our union has kept these legal documents in our office, in a simple three-hole-punch binder. That wasn’t a tough job for us, but it seems to have been beyond the district’s capability. Surely board members who are ultimately responsible for running the district, and who have been sitting members of the board for the terms of five superintendents, should have a better understanding of their district and this contract.”
Reed added, “Mr. Webb’s comments show a real failure on this Board’s part to understand the contract and even the concepts that make up a contract, such as the difference between letters of agreement and past practice. Their failure to comprehend these issues is hindering negotiations. In his comments, Mr. Webb appears to confuse two very different contractual concepts, past practice and letters of agreements. Sadly, after more than five school years of negotiations, our School Board president does not understand basic contract terms and concepts.”
Reed noted that none of the agreements are secret in nature. “These agreements were carefully created over 30 years by past teachers, administrators and Boards, working together to resolve concerns. A few agreements were even reached over the past five years. They took time, communication, and trust in both sides. For Mr. Webb to ridicule them with no respect for the history of the time period they were established or the hard work of past teachers and administrations is unbecoming of someone charged with leading our school board.”
NFT President Louise Boyd said, “Instead of trying to negotiate through the papers, Mr. Webb should deal with issues at the bargaining table. The NFT has repeatedly urged the Board to bring issues they’d like to discuss, such as security badges, to the table, instead of announcing new ones every few weeks in the newspapers.”
Boyd added, “Teachers have done our part. We’ve agreed to virtually all of this Board’s financial demands. Now the Board has moved on to attacking contractual safeguards vital to our professional rights and to the quality of education in our schools. For example, they want to abolish class-size limits. They want administrators to be able to change students’ grades. And now Mr. Webb claims that the vast majority of our District’s longtime contractual agreements are ‘ridiculous.’ Is it any wonder that we don’t have a contract?”
As a point of clarification, Boyd said that there has not been a single meeting held between Superintendent Copeland and NFT leaders to review the side agreements. (Recent reporting that there had been several of those meetings was inaccurate, she noted.) “Superintendent Copeland cancelled last week’s meeting with me to review and explain the history of each of the agreements,” Boyd said.
