March 2, 2011
South Burlington Teachers Vote to Strike March 9
Board can prevent city’s first walkout by resuming bargaining and reaching a tentative agreement with teachers
SOUTH BURLINGTON – South Burlington teachers will go on strike for the first time in the district’s 50-year history March 9 unless the city’s school board returns to the negotiating table and reaches a tentative agreement with the South Burlington Educators’ Association.
“We are disappointed to have to make this decision, but the board’s unprecedented actions left us no choice,” said Richard Wise, co-president of the Association. “For the first time in the city’s history, a board has walked away from contract talks, setting the stage for the first-ever disruption of a school year.”
Wise said it’s not too late for the board to prevent a walk-out. “We’ve been working for nine months without a contract, remaining in our classrooms, teaching the city’s children,” Wise said. “But our patience is wearing out. The board has time to do what it should have done months ago: reach a deal that is fair to us, fair to our city and good for our schools.”
The major sticking point is the board’s ideologically driven desire to give it the right to allow a contract to expire, walk away from the bargaining table and not honor previously negotiated salary schedules.
“In other words, the board wants to be able to pick and choose which parts of an expired contract it wants to honor, and reject what it wants to reject,” Wise said. “No other board in the county has allowed a disruption in the school year over this issue, and we implore the board to return to the table today.”
The teachers have made compromises over pay and benefits during the negotiating process, and have even offered to work with the board on a new way to treat expired contracts. The board has refused to move off its contract expiration stance.
“South Burlington is rightly very proud of its schools, and we are proud of the work we do on behalf of our students and our city,” Wise said. “We hope the board realizes it can keep the school doors open and prevent a disruption in our year. It’s not too late.”
