Finally, for the first time in two years the members of the Haddonfield Education Association have contracts.
The Haddonfield Board of Education approved two sets of contracts Monday night to effectively run HEA contracts through the 2013–2014 school year. The first set of contracts was for the missed 2010–2011 school year, which includes an average wage increase for HEA members at 2 percent with a 6 percent average contribution to health benefits.
The board and the HEA have been negotiating a new deal since June of 2010, when the HEA contract expired. The HEA consists of about 200 members in the Haddonfield School District.
Board of Education Member Joe Ehrhardt explained that the 2 percent wage increase would be split, and 1 percent of the increase would be paid to members in cash, like a “signing bonus” he said.
Over the three year deal, the HEA will see an average wage increase of a little more than 2 percent, but will contribute an average of 9 percent of their salaries for their healthcare premiums.
The law regarding what teachers must legally contribute to their healthcare benefits changed twice over the past 19 months, Ehrhardt said, making it immensely difficult to work into a new deal.
Board of Education President Steve Weinstein said it made it seem as if they were negotiating with “the sand was shifting under our feet,” because of the changes in the law.
The HEA has a “guide,” which is based on experience, and designates what each member will make in a year. This deal automatically bumps up every member one rung on the guide, Ehrhardt said.
Overall, this averages out over the three-year deal to a 1.2 percent net wage increase for HEA members. However, Ehrhardt stressed that this did not include future increases in healthcare costs.
“The teachers in this district care about our kids, they work with our kids every single day and care about our school district,” Weinstein said.
When asked how the salary averages compare to other school districts, Ehrhardt said they were “extremely competitive.” The starting salary for a teacher is about $50,000 in the district and the highest rung is about $80,000. The beginning salaries are higher than many districts, but the highest rung is a little lower on average than surrounding districts such as Moorestown Township, he said.
