Monroe teachers, Board of Ed still unable to reach agreement Higher salaries for new teachers at heart of impasse; teachers hold rally

Monroe teachers, Board of Ed still unable to reach agreement
Higher salaries for new teachers at heart of impasse; teachers hold rally
Staff Writer
MONROE — A dispute over how pay raises will be distributed across the teachers’ salary guide has resulted in the township’s educators working without a contract since July 1.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Leaders of the Monroe Township Education Association speak with the rank and file in front of Mill Lake School, Monroe, during a rally on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

The community’s teachers are paid according to a step system. Each year a teacher works, he or she advances one step and receives a raise accordingly.

According to Superintendent Dr. Stuart Schnur, the Board of Education wishes to give stronger emphasis to increasing the salary of beginning teachers. The Monroe Township Education Association (MTEA) meanwhile, feels that more attention should be given to veteran teachers.

Included in the contract are the salaries of the bus drivers, security guards, paraprofessionals, library coordinators, secretaries, lunch room workers and janitors.

The MTEA has demonstrated that it supports and has faith in its negotiating team, led by Stacy Cocorikis and Caren Costaldo. MTEA members unanimously voted to support their team’s negotiations at a general membership meeting on Nov. 2. They also demonstrated at a rally on Nov. 15 at the Mill Lake School.

In a speech to the cheering crowd, Cocorikis, co-president of the MTEA, said, "We are not asking for unreasonable demands. We just want to maintain our benefits and receive a fair salary increase."

According to the Board of Education’s business administrator, Wayne Holiday, the Monroe Board of Education and the MTEA reached a memorandum of agreement on June 19 that sets the salary increases at 5 percent, 4¹/2 percent and 4¹/2 percent over three years.

The cost of the settlement will be determined by which salary steps are increased. For example, a raise for senior teachers, who have a higher rate of pay, would cost much more than an increase in starting salaries.

The Board of Education and the teachers union have been trying to work out a settlement since January without success. On Oct. 17, the association filed for mediation.

The board suggested that they move to binding arbitration, but the teachers rejected the move. Binding arbitration would force both parties into a settlement rapidly, but violates the teachers union agreement which guarantees that every teacher votes on a proposed settlement. Negotiations will continue at a meeting scheduled for Nov. 21.