Mediation can't force teachers, board to agree Phillipsburg talks head to fact-finding because sides can't come to terms on health care costs. Tuesday, March 13, 2007 • By DANIEL HAUSMANN • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Two mediation sessions failed to yield a new contract for educators. Now Phillipsburg School District and the teachers union will climb the next rung in the negotiations ladder. The school board's negotiating committee and members of the Phillipsburg Education Association met with a mediator until midnight Thursday. The only agreement to come out of that session was that fact-finding was the next step to be taken. "We didn't make any headway," school board Attorney Don Morrow said Monday night. Both sides will plead their cases to the fact-finder, who will then make an advisory determination on how the district and union can settle. The teachers contract expired last summer. The fight centers on health care costs. The district covers premiums for 402 teachers enrolled in the health plan. The district paid $8.2 million in health care for all employees in the 2005-06 school year, slightly less than 14 percent of the district's budget. Phillipsburg Education Association President Barbara English addressed the board in front of 120 district employees. English said the teachers offered seven solutions to the health care dispute. Those solutions, she said, would yield between $400,000 and $650,000 in savings. "The district is hellbent on one (solution)," English said. That solution means teachers would have to pay into their health care premiums. English said none of the seven solutions her team offered included a premium payment. Rather they would tweak the costs covered by the insurance plans. English said the fact-finder will cost the board of education up to $1,200 per session to come up with answers. Mediation was free up to four sessions. "To know the board would not work with our mediator was disheartening," English said. "(The cost of fact-finding) can be what a teacher gets in a raise." She ended her comments to the board with loud applause from the association members. English thinks other issues such as the rate of salary increases are not as hard to solve. The median salary for the district in 2005-06 was $56,218, according to the state Department of Education. The state median average for a K-12 district is $53,871. The last contract included a 3.8 percent average annual increase. She said she has no idea what the board's benchmark is for health care savings. "I feel the teachers have compromised a lot," English said. "(The board members) have just dug their heels in on one issue." School board members were mum on specifics of the negotiations, citing confidentiality issues. "We have to start looking for ways to save money, which is going to save positions in the district," board Vice President Tom McGuire said. "What the final number is remains to be seen." The next step after fact-finding is superconciliation, a more intense fact-finding, according to Morrow. Teacher Bruce Smith said in his 32 years of education, the only time he gets uneasy is during contract fights. "I just can't believe we can't put adults in a room to come up with a contract," Smith said. English said the union will increase the frequency of informational pickets at schools. Teachers are driving around with "Settle Now" visors on their cars. She said her motivation centers on the fact that half of her teachers have been with the district fewer than eight years. "We have to think for a new generation of teachers," she said. Reporter Daniel Hausmann can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at dhausmann@express-times.com. © 2007 The Express-Times. Used by NJ.com with permission.