Teacher Contract Negotiations to Continue August 9

The West Chester teachers’ union and the West Chester Area School Board will hold another round of contract negotiations on August 9, as both sides feel the pressure of the upcoming school year.

“We’re hopeful,” said West Chester Education Association president Debbie Fell.  We’re working hard, and we’re hopeful.”

The meeting on August 9 will be the first time the two sides have met since June 28, and in a statement released last month Fell said:

“The WCAEA is willing and eager to continue negotiations with the district, but we’re essentially at a standstill. By the time we’re negotiating again, the new school year will be less than a month away.”

Both sides seem to be at an impasse publicly when it comes to how the district and the teachers should receive pay raises as well as how health care costs should be split between the two organizations.

The school board has said publicly that the teachers are asking for an 18 percent salary raise over the three years of the proposed contract, while the union argues that the 18 percent figure does not match what they’re really asking.

In the same statement released in June, Fell said that she was unsure where the district came up with its 18 percent figure, and that under the union’s proposal some teachers would actually lose money.

School board president Vincent Murphy said in the July school board meeting that the board stands by that 18 percent figure, and that he would like to know how the union came up with their numbers.

As the week progresses, there will be a story a day on West Chester Patch breaking down the information from both sides floating around out there as we get closer to the meeting on August 9.

To see what has been written so far, please check out the links below.