The following statement was read at the Jan. 16 West Essex Board of Education meeting by Board of Education member Joyce Candido, chair of the board's negotiations committee. Read the West Essex Educational Association's response.

The negotiations committee of the Board met with the West Essex Educational Association (WEEA) on Saturday, Dec. 17. This was our sixth negotiations meeting since May. Most of our meetings were very productive and we reached agreement on a number of work rule issues.

The reason both sides have agreed on mediation is that we are not able to reach an accord on the salary increase. The mediator would be assigned by the Public Employees Relations Commission and would meet with the Board’s negotiations committee and WEEA’s committee one or more times in an attempt to negotiate a voluntary agreement with the parties. If that does not produce a settlement, the Commission will then assign a fact-finder, who will listen to testimony and documents presented by both sides before issuing a non-binding recommendation. This process, unfortunately, will probably take several months.

As previously reported, we had forwarded two salary guides to NJEA’s Uniserve representative Dennis Grecio. One guide contained a two-step movement in year one and one step movements for the second and third year. The second guide had a one-step movement for each of the three years. Both guides contained a 2% increase for each of the three-years of the contract.

However, WEEA was adamant on receiving an increase of 3 1/2% percent in the first year of the contract, and was seeking similar increases in the second and third years as well.

As you know, the state has limited the Board’s ability to raise taxes to 2% per year. And since almost 50% of the total school budget is teacher’s salaries and benefits, the most responsible way to maintain the high quality of programs offered at West Essex was to limit the WEEA salary increase to 2%. Any more of an increase could result in cuts in both staff and programs, both academic and extracurricular. The Board is committed to using the taxpayers’ money wisely by living within our means.

The Board certainly appreciates our fine teaching staff and acknowledges the sacrifice the teachers made in taking a wage freeze for the 2010-2011 school year. The wage freeze allowed us to maintain our high quality program of studies and extracurricular offerings, and averted certain cuts and staff reductions. In effect, the wage freeze saved teachers’ jobs. In May of 2010, as a show of good faith and in appreciation of the freeze, the Board offered all four of our bargaining units a three-year contract in which the Board would cover whatever contribution towards health care each individual would be required to make for those three years. This offer was accepted by the administrators, the secretaries and the custodians. But it was rejected by the WEEA without any discussion.

Teachers are critically important to the educational process at West Essex. The Board hopes to settle this contract with the assistance of the mediator so that we can continue to offer our students the excellent education our community expects from the West Essex Regional School District.