School leaders downplay tensions
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The Intelligencer
Looking at the school districts in Bucks and Montgomery counties, it seems as if the conflict between teachers unions and school boards has reached a boiling point.
North Penn School District is in the midst of a strike. Hatboro-Horsham teachers have been working without a contract for almost a year. And though it was almost two years ago, the 13-day work stoppage in Souderton School District is still fresh in many minds - especially since the strike was followed by a seven-month impasse before a contract agreement was reached.
But state representatives for teachers and school boards don't believe the local situation has larger implications for the rest of Pennsylvania - or the future.
"Ninety-five percent of all collective bargaining is settled without strikes," said Wythe Keever, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
He added that North Penn is only the sixth district to strike this year. Of the 200 or so unions bargaining for a contract in a given year, only about 10 vote to strike, Keever said.
David Salter, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, also said he didn't see evidence of mounting tension between unions and boards.
"We've seen a lot of districts in different parts of the state come to agreements," he said.
Local officials, however, paint a different picture.
"I've been (negotiating contracts) for 31 years + and I have not encountered as many obstacles to get to a contract settlement as exist right now," said Jeffrey Sultanik, a lawyer and chief negotiator for Hatboro-Horsham