Union says board stopped talks for fact-finding, then rejected proposed deal
By Mike McGann, Editor, KennettTimes.com
KENNETT SQUARE — Members of the Kennett Education Association (KEA) — the union representing the Kennett Consolidated School District’s teachers — expressed their disappointment at the Board of Education’s decision to reject the recommendations of a state-appointed fact-finder — a deal the union voted to accept.
The union took shots at the Board of Education for first insisting on the Fact-Finding process — Diana S. Mulligan was appointed by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and issued her suggested settlement terms a few weeks ago — and then summarily rejecting her conclusions. They also took issue with board claims that Mulligan failed to account for the total cost of employment for the district’s teachers — citing specific references in the fact-finder’s report.
The KEA issued a formal statement late Thursday noting that the board “unilaterally” shut down negotiations while it “was willing to continue to negotiate” to start the fact-finding process. The contract between the district and its teachers is due to expire on June 30.
“The Kennett Education Association believes that Fact-finder Diana S. Mulligan presented fair recommendations that were based on the facts of the case,” according the statement issued by KEA President Michael J. Kelly. “The report evidenced her 30 years of experience as a fact-finder and arbiter who has heard over 300 arbitration cases, 150 of which have been school contract arbitration cases. She is certainly aware of the PSERS funding issues and the District’s contribution levels. While her recommendations included several compromises and concessions beyond those already offered by the Association, the members of the Kennett Education Association voted, nevertheless, to accept the recommendations of her report.”
The KEA was specific in how it took issue with the board’s argument on numbers and staffing costs as a percentage of the overall budget — noting that unlike a number of neighboring districts, those costs have actually gone down over the last decade. KEA cited Mulligan’s argument that the total cost of employment for teachers represented 48.9% of the 2003-04 budget, while by the 2010-11 budget, those numbers had fallen to 46.6%
The union also took issue with the board’s comments on the increasing costs of the Public Schools Employees Retirement System (PSERS) — which has seen significant increases in recent years and will continue to do so, thanks to a shortfall in the pension fund. The contribution for the 2011-12 school year was 8.65% of salary, with the number expected to increase to 12.36% in 2012-13. Similar increases are expected through the 2019-20 school year when contributions are expected to peak at 28.04%. The state matches half of the cost, cutting the effective rate in half for school districts.
But, as the union points out, while teachers continued to pay into the system in a range between 5.63% and 8.66% of their own salary, school districts and the state saw drastic drops in their contributions earlier in the decade, including three straight years of payments below 2% between 1999 and 2002. In fact, the 2011-12 school year was the first time that pension payments came relatively into parity, with districts and the state paying 8.65% and teachers paying 8.12%.
Typically, in the years immediately before, districts and the state have been paying about 3% less. In addition, in 2001, the state legislature approved a 25% increase in benefits (and a 50% increase for legislators) for public workers including teachers.The increased costs, reductions in state and school district contributions combined with the falloff on return in investments — the pension fund in invested in the stock market and other securities — and has caused the pension fund gap, although the gap has improved slightly with recent recent rebound in the stock market.
