Resident: Teacher contract process too opaque
Uh-oh. It's summer time again, and if you listen carefully, you can hear it. Hear that stirring in the background? It's that 900-pound gorilla called the Edison Board of Education, and they're at it again. Seems they like the hazy, lazy days of summer when there is no one around.

This time it's to vote on the new teachers' contract on July 29. Not that it's a big deal and all, but with a $195 million spending budget for 2008-09, of which base instruction is $105 million with some 1,304 teachers and paraprofessionals on the payroll, you think what they're giving away just might be of interest to all the residents?

The expired contract for the teachers - oh wait, that's not how it reads, for Professional Employees - between the Board of Education and the Edison Township EducationAssociation ran from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2008. The board's negotiating committee led by board President David Dickinson has reached a new agreement with the teachers union.

Now, it sure would be nice to know what's in this contract, but open government being what it is on Pierson Avenue, you can't see the contracts until after the board votes. Seems a little odd, don't you think? If you can't see what's in the contract, how can you comment at the public meeting? And once you get the contract, wouldn't it be too late to comment?

Anyhow, there's always the expired contract to comment on. Like other negotiated contracts between unionized workers and their employers, the teachers' contract guarantees wages, regular raises, health insurance, vacation time and other benefits. But what catches your eye in this contract is that none of these benefits are related to performance. It seems in New Jersey, the producers of the education system and not the users (parents) control public education - and boards of education are just a creation of the unions. This contract takes full advantage of that bit of hypocrisy - but that's what happens when there's no competition. We're left to pay for these archaic, out-of-reality contracts that hinder the education process and better serve the unions than they do the kids or the teachers - and you thought Cablevision was the big monopoly in town.

Ironic, isn't it? The teachers reward performance in their classrooms yet their rewards are free of performance levels. Their rewards are based solely on length of service and certificates achieved. The infamous salary guide with all its opportunities for credits comes to mind. A contract that provides financial awards based on how long you're employed rather than how well you perform in the classroom. Not to mention that seniority-based pay increases do very little to improve teaching quality.

It's funny, teachers expect their kids to carry a full load and to do all the work, but in this contract they work "a la carte" - meaning they provide a basic service, and everything else has a fee assigned to it, if you want them to do it. Throw in some premium free health insurance, advanced degrees subsidized by us, and believe it or not, they actually earn credit for just showing up to work!

Finally, and my favorite, teachers won't sign letters of recommendation for collegebound seniors whenever there's a contract dispute because they're not paid for it in their contract. One of the rare things they happily leave out when it comes to their "a la carte" menu pricing.

But hey, at least we're comforted in the knowledge that it's all - for the kids.
Ralph Bucci
Edison