....talking points....




"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
....Henry Brougham





1---->Why didn't the Association attend the School Board bargaining forum?


  • The Association believes that the bargaining should take place as outlined in the Bargaining law - in private at the call of the mediator.

  • The Association is anxious to settle this dispute and will attend any and all meetings called by the mediator.

  • We believe attendance would have been counterproductive because of devisive posturing.


    2---->Has this type of public forum been utilized elsewhere?


  • Yes, in fact, in Philadelphia appoximately twenty-five years ago the PFT and the school board bargained on television. It was a fiasco marked by posturing and grandstanding. Nothing productive occurred.

  • The Association finds it ironic that our School Board wants openness but excluded their own members from past bargaining sessions.


    3---->What has the Association done to control health costs?


  • For three years the Association has presented and supported information concerning Health Care Consortiums to the District. These consortiums have saved up to $1800 per year per teacher in other districts. The Health Care savings could have been $1,296,000 over the three-year period. The Board rejected our offer. Currently this same plan is being explored in Luzerne County.


    4---->What else has the Association done relative to health care costs?


  • The Association offered the District a Benefit Cost Reduction of $79,000 five years ago. The savings to taxpayers would have been $395,000. The Board rejected our offer.

  • The Association saved the District $12,826.92 annually by converting to a new Vision Program. These savings were also rejected five years ago at a loss of $64,134.60 to the District.

  • The Association has proposed a committee to study the issue of Health Care. There has been no response from the District.


    5---->What has been the economic impact on the District due to attrition, state funding increases, the reduction in state retirement system payments, and other factors?


  • The District had apporximately $922.230 in attritional savings since 1992. Attritional savings occur when teachers at the top of the scale retire and are replaced by teachers at a lower salary. These attritional savings continue to accrue.

  • The District received state funding increases of $128,581 for the 1998-1999 school year.

  • The District has saved $254,322.08 in state retirement contributions over the past two school years, with another large savings to be realized for the 1998-1999 school year.


    6---->How does the current Abington Heights benefit package compare to other districts in NEIU#19?


  • There are twenty districts in NEIU#19. Of those twenty, two districts have $250 deductible because they are community rated (less than seventy-five members.) They are Old Forge and Forest City. Two other locals have $250 deductibles. They are Lakeland and Valley View. One district, Susquehanna, has a $50 deductible.


    7---->What effect does labor unrest have on a school district's hiring practices?


  • Demographic information tells us newly graduated teaching candidates look for districts without a history of labor unrest, excellent contracts and one which provides for their involvement in the decision making process.

  • Good contracts attract and maintain the best teachers and sustain those already in service.

  • Abington Heights has lost at least ten teahcers who had taught in our district and left because of labor unrest.




    This is not about money. Money is the excuse.





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