Neshaminy Teachers on Strike

[BarryG]

Forgive me if the teachers' demands seem a little rich If I was a property tax payer in Neshaminy I don't see I could possibly support the union.



source: Elected officials break silence on Neshaminy contract dispute - phillyBurbs.com : Courier Times: neshaminy, farry, tomlinson, galloway, davis

For some context: Neshaminy teachers are among the highest paid in the state; the average salary is $78,800 and over half of them make more than $90,000 a year--not including benefits. They current pay $0 towards their premium healthcare plan, which costs a average of $27,000 per teacher per year. And of course their PSERS pension plan is generous.

Four years is a long time to work without a contract but in this case, I think kudos goes to the board for refusing to bow to the union's demands.

[NickleDimer]

demanding retroactive pay is ridiculous. the steps should be recognized though.

[billy ross]

Forgive me if the teachers' demands seem a little rich If I was a property tax payer in Neshaminy I don't see I could possibly support the union.



source: Elected officials break silence on Neshaminy contract dispute - phillyBurbs.com : Courier Times: neshaminy, farry, tomlinson, galloway, davis

For some context: Neshaminy teachers are among the highest paid in the state; the average salary is $78,800 and over half of them make more than $90,000 a year--not including benefits. They current pay $0 towards their premium healthcare plan, which costs a average of $27,000 per teacher per year. And of course their PSERS pension plan is generous.

Four years is a long time to work without a contract but in this case, I think kudos goes to the board for refusing to bow to the union's demands.

This is the same problem Philly has with its contracts. The contracts were negotiated in a different era, and now the wages and benefits are overly generous, since expected inflation hasn't panned out. Thus the unions have no incentive to go to a new contract and the municipality can only hope that eventually inflation takes a bite out of these contracts and brings them down to earth. At least in the city the union pays for health care, with the city only contributing a fixed amount which used to be crazy expensive but is now pretty cheap. The irony is that the union is forcing its members to pay increasingly high amounts for health care as costs rise but reimbursement from the city don't. $27k per year per employee for health care alone - which is what Neshaminy pays - is obscene.

[BarryG]

A letter from a Neshaminy High School teacher to members of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers condemns the union leadership for using "terror and fear tactics" to keep teachers in line...

Ferrara wrote in his letter that a "gang" of NFT members stay after school to see which staff members are disregarding the work-to-contract instruction...

Ferrara went on to say in a separate NFT posting that vandalism has occurred at several schools after individual NFT members questioned union officials or failed to demonstrate their full support.

"Cars were keyed, tires had screws put into them, tires were slashed, and windows were smashed in vehicles," he wrote.

Link: Neshaminy teacher: Union uses intimidation to quell dissent - phillyBurbs.com

[LedZep2147]

For some context: Neshaminy teachers are among the highest paid in the state; the average salary is $78,800 and over half of them make more than $90,000 a year--not including benefits. They current pay $0 towards their premium healthcare plan, which costs a average of $27,000 per teacher per year. And of course their PSERS pension plan is generous.

Four years is a long time to work without a contract but in this case, I think kudos goes to the board for refusing to bow to the union's demands.

Paying teachers over $90,000 per year is a joke. The State of PA should intervene and install a salary cap of 60k per year for all teachers across the board. Anyone who tries to strike as a result, should be terminated.

[3rd&Brown]

Paying teachers over $90,000 per year is a joke. The State of PA should intervene and install a salary cap of 60k per year for all teachers across the board. Anyone who tries to strike as a result, should be terminated.

Ok. This isn't Mississippi. Teachers deserve to make a good living, and if you want intelligent, professional people to aspire to these jobs, they need to pay a good wage. That being said, the benefits teachers get are ridiculous. It's hard for anyone to sympathize with them on this issue any longer. Pensions for new employees need to be scaled back (to more modest levels + 401K) and they should be making contributions to health care. And I hate the step system.

[BarryG]

Ok. This isn't Mississippi. Teachers deserve to make a good living, and if you want intelligent, professional people to aspire to these jobs, they need to pay a good wage. That being said, the benefits teachers get are ridiculous. It's hard for anyone to sympathize with them on this issue any longer. Pensions for new employees need to be scaled back (to more modest levels + 401K) and they should be making contributions to health care. And I hate the step system.

I agree, if anything teachers should be getting paid more (in general, not in Neshaminy) but based on performance rather than seniority and meaningless degrees. There should be no DB pensions at all, 401(k) only, and it's probably inevitable that pension boosts already awarded will need to be clawed back.

[billy ross]

I agree, if anything teachers should be getting paid more (in general, not in Neshaminy) but based on performance rather than seniority and meaningless degrees. There should be no DB pensions at all, 401(k) only, and it's probably inevitable that pension boosts already awarded will need to be clawed back.

These generous contracts were awarded in an era when inflationary expectations were high. They haven't come to pass, and now the contracts are unaffordable. It's a national problem across many facets of our society. It's mostly fringe benefit related, especially retirement. What we need is a good dose of inflation to correct it, or we need to renegotiate very many contracts.

[BarryG]

These generous contracts were awarded in an era when inflationary expectations were high. They haven't come to pass, and now the contracts are unaffordable. It's a national problem across many facets of our society. It's mostly fringe benefit related, especially retirement. What we need is a good dose of inflation to correct it, or we need to renegotiate very many contracts.

The pensions were based on wildly optimistic predictions of future investment growth. Even in the heady days of the nineties and oughts, the expectations were unrealistic and the benefits were unfunded. Reminder to "labor" supporters--lobbying state legislatures to pass unfunded benefit increases is not collective bargaining.

Eventually the **** is going to hit the fan and even the left will have to admit that cutting medicaid and welfare to pay for public sector pension obligations is absurd.

[FKD19124]

time to give them an ultimatum. Take the latest proposal and get back to educating children or you will be replaced.

Forgive me if the teachers' demands seem a little rich If I was a property tax payer in Neshaminy I don't see I could possibly support the union.



source: Elected officials break silence on Neshaminy contract dispute - phillyBurbs.com : Courier Times: neshaminy, farry, tomlinson, galloway, davis

For some context: Neshaminy teachers are among the highest paid in the state; the average salary is $78,800 and over half of them make more than $90,000 a year--not including benefits. They current pay $0 towards their premium healthcare plan, which costs a average of $27,000 per teacher per year. And of course their PSERS pension plan is generous.

Four years is a long time to work without a contract but in this case, I think kudos goes to the board for refusing to bow to the union's demands.

[NickTheCage]

Paying teachers over $90,000 per year is a joke. The State of PA should intervene and install a salary cap of 60k per year for all teachers across the board. Anyone who tries to strike as a result, should be terminated.

Ok. This isn't Mississippi. Teachers deserve to make a good living, and if you want intelligent, professional people to aspire to these jobs, they need to pay a good wage. That being said, the benefits teachers get are ridiculous. It's hard for anyone to sympathize with them on this issue any longer. Pensions for new employees need to be scaled back (to more modest levels + 401K) and they should be making contributions to health care. And I hate the step system.

No one deserves a good living, they should have to earn it.

Why not have a market based education system with zero government interference? 110% parental authority on choosing the type of education and the funding. Take all the control out of the govts./unions hands and empower the individual. A free market based education system would achieve a higher quality and much more efficient education system because individuals would be free to choose. Then the market will ‘decide’ who deserves to earn and who doesn’t. That is how you get "professional people to aspire to these jobs" for a quality wage and benefits package.

[3rd&Brown]

Why not have a market based education system with zero government interference? 110% parental authority on choosing the type of education and the funding. Take all the control out of the govts./unions hands and empower the individual. A free market based education system would achieve a higher quality and much more efficient education system because individuals would be free to choose. Then the market will ‘decide’ who deserves to earn and who doesn’t. That is how you get "professional people to aspire to these jobs" for a quality wage and benefits package.

Oh right. An education system where the government isn't involved at all. That sounds very academic and Ron Paul of you. Care to point to one example of such a system that works well for society, anywhere, not just in text books?

[Sailaway]

Oh right. An education system where the government isn't involved at all. That sounds very academic and Ron Paul of you. Care to point to one example of such a system that works well for society, anywhere, not just in text books?

There are lots of private schools in my home state of NJ with, AFAIK, no government involvement at all - Lawrenceville, Peddie, Hun, etc. And, the quality of education is vastly superior to that of public schools. They're also cheaper tuition-wise in many if not most cases versus the property taxes in that area.

In any case, one thing we can say is NOT working is the public education system.

[3rd&Brown]

There are lots of private schools in my home state of NJ with, AFAIK, no government involvement at all - Lawrenceville, Peddie, Hun, etc. And, the quality of education is vastly superior to that of public schools. They're also cheaper tuition-wise in many if not most cases versus the property taxes in that area.

In any case, one thing we can say is NOT working is the public education system.

You get an F in argument. You're not serious, are you? These are elite special admission schools, most of which cost over $30,000 per year. They hand pick their students and then charge them handsomely for the privilege. And you're suggesting that the average property tax bill in NJ is $30,000 per year? You should check your facts.

How do you suppose we educate the remaining 97% of NJ students? Write them all checks for $30,000 per year so they can go to schools like Hun and Peddie? That will certainly cost the state a lot more than it pays now to educate its students.

If you're gonna make an argument, at least make one that plausible. Not to mention informed.

[3rd&Brown]

BTW, NJ has amongst the best public schools in the Country. It certainly is not perfect, and has it's flaws, but it seems odd to highlight the system of a state that has one of the most educated populaces (by many measures) in this country, up there with CT and MA and a handful of other states, as broken.

I suppose we go to a system with less government support like Louisiana, or Alabama, or Mississippi. That works well for those states, which are among the poorest and least educated in the country.

[3rd&Brown]

Just checked the tuition at Hun. $30,560 per year for day students, $44,420 per year for boarding students.

Peddie: $35,000 day, $45,000 boarding.

Lawrenceville: $34,680 day, $42,350 boarding.

Meanwhile, a quick check of a few of the better districts in NJ (Moorestown, etc) shows that they educate their students for roughly $14,000-$16,000 per student.

[billy ross]

Philly spends $17k per student. They claim $14k but that's the blended number factoring in the 25% of students who go to underpaid charters. Thank God the rotten edifice is getting dismantled.

Just checked the tuition at Hun. $30,560 per year for day students, $44,420 per year for boarding students.

Peddie: $35,000 day, $45,000 boarding.

Lawrenceville: $34,680 day, $42,350 boarding.

Meanwhile, a quick check of a few of the better districts in NJ (Moorestown, etc) shows that they educate their students for roughly $14,000-$16,000 per student.

[NickTheCage]

You get an F in argument. You're not serious, are you? These are elite special admission schools, most of which cost over $30,000 per year. They hand pick their students and then charge them handsomely for the privilege. And you're suggesting that the average property tax bill in NJ is $30,000 per year? You should check your facts.

How do you suppose we educate the remaining 97% of NJ students? Write them all checks for $30,000 per year so they can go to schools like Hun and Peddie? That will certainly cost the state a lot more than it pays now to educate its students.

If you're gonna make an argument, at least make one that plausible. Not to mention informed.

I can see you are a product of the government run schools. You just don't understand how markets work

[3rd&Brown]

I can see you are a product of the government run schools. You just don't understand how markets work?

Oh right. Please educate me.

On another note, you know nothing about my education.

And if you are going to refute me, at least use an argument other than Sailaway's, which is just preposterous. I'm still waiting for that example of a society in which education is totally market based from you. Perhaps that's because it doesn't exist. Oh right. Okay. Thanks for informing the dialogue.

[Sailaway]

Just checked the tuition at Hun. $30,560 per year for day students, $44,420 per year for boarding students.

Peddie: $35,000 day, $45,000 boarding.

Lawrenceville: $34,680 day, $42,350 boarding.

Meanwhile, a quick check of a few of the better districts in NJ (Moorestown, etc) shows that they educate their students for roughly $14,000-$16,000 per student.

Tax on 5,500 sqft residence, Princeton Township (2011): $44,500. So, yeah, Peddie and L-ville are cheaper. And you're not paying after your kids graduate.

BTW, Hun was about $8k (non-boarding) in the late 80's/early 90's when I attended. Property tax was about that at the time. So, relative to property taxes, private schools may have gotten cheaper.