Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
CATA members rally at board meeting
Members of teachers union express ‘frustration’ with ongoing contract negotiations
Coatesville Area Teachers Association members expressed frustration with contract negotiations.
CALN » Members of the Coatesville Area Teachers Association (CATA) showed up in force at the Coatesville Area School Board meeting Tuesday night amid delays in negotiating a new contract for the union that represents teachers in the district.
CATA members have been working under an expired contract for more than a year. The contract expired Aug. 30, 2016.
According to a news release from CATA, members at the school board meeting were protesting against the “endless frustration of protracted bargaining” and the “completely unreasonable positions” held by the school board. Hundreds of CATA members were present at the school board meeting, most of whom were wearing blue shirts in a show of solidarity.
Parents in the district voiced support for CATA members, and said the teachers, who are irreplaceable, are the reason they want their kids to go to school in the district.
Several CATA members spoke about their concerns directly to the school board during the public comment portion of the meeting. Many CATA members stood up when the speakers asked questions such as “how many of you have experienced a lack of respect?” and “how many of you have experienced a hostile work environment?”
CATA president Audra Ritter said in a phone interview that members organized this rally within the board meeting to give the school board members a visual of how many teachers are unhappy with the current state of things in the district.
“Looking at that, there can be no question that the majority (of CATA members) is upset, and supporting not just a change in the contract, but a change in working conditions as a whole,” she said.
Coatesville Area School Board
President Dean Snyder said in a phone interview that the board has great respect for the teachers in the district, which is reflected in providing them with resources such as upgraded technology, and upgraded curriculum which teachers helped to select.
“We’ve invested in a lot of teacher training in order to give them the tools to do the best job in educating our students,” he added.
The district had approved a fact-finding report regarding contract negotiations last April, but CATA rejected the report. Ritter said some of the pieces of the report were vague, and CATA did not receive clarification on those items within the timeline to vote on the report.
Some of the issues CATA and the district are negotiating on include: salary increases, health care plans and control of time management for teachers during the school day.
Ritter said CATA members would be willing to compromise on things like benefit payments and health care coverage, but they want to ensure teachers can keep their planning time which is vital to carrying out their responsibilities and helping students.
Snyder said that in exchange for salary increases across the board for CATA members and a health care plan that would be favorable to CATA, the district had sought control of the school day in order to give the administration more ability to utilize its resources.
“We don’t want to have control of other people; we want flexibility to utilize teaching resources to maximize the education of our kids,” Synder said. “We’re not looking to increase the time of the work day.”
He said teachers would still be guaranteed a planning period and 30 minutes for lunch.
A negotiating session between the school board and CATA representatives is set for today.
“We’re hoping the district will come closer to see our attempts for an agreement and that they’ll join us,” Ritter said.
“We are hopeful that CATA will be bringing a counter-proposal to the table so that we can do some serious negotiating,” Synder said.