Teachers reject pay raises, want even more

Teachers continue to lose the PR battle with taxpayers. From the editorial pages of The Pottstown Mercury:

THORNS to the Pottsgrove School District teachers for rejecting a fact-finders report that recommended two raises over the course of three years, but also called for increased teacher contributions to health care costs. The report, which was unanimously accepted by the Pottsgrove School Board a week earlier, was made public this week. Posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry website, the report was authored by John Skonier, who was appointed a fact-finder for Pottsgrove on April 18 by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. In making the salary recommendations Skonier’s report made particular note of the nation’s and region’s current economic conditions. “The country is in the grips of a major recession and revenue sources are dwindling. ... These challenges require innovative approaches to bargaining. There must be a balancing between ever increasing health care costs and the limited economic resources available in the foreseeable future,” the report said. That means compromise and acceptance of economic reality. 

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