Teacher contract talks tonight in Downingtown

Negotiators for the Downingtown Area School District and its 850-member teachers' union are scheduled to resume negotiations this afternoon in an effort to break a deadlock over salaries and the amount employees will pay for health-care benefits.

The teachers' contract expired Aug. 31. The teachers have already authorized a strike vote but have not given the district the required 48 hours' notice for a strike. The Downington Area Education Association has not set a strike deadline, said spokesman Paul Gottlieb, a Pennsylvania State Education Association staff member who is participating in the negotiations.

A contract proposal comparison on the district Web site shows that the district is offering a 4 percent wage increase for three years, while the union's proposal is for increases ranging from 4.65 percent to 5.3 percent over five years. The district is proposing that teachers in the current health care plan pay $61.37 a month for insurance for an individual and $165.46 for a family; the union is proposing monthly payments of $31 for an individual and $84 for a family.

Gottlieb said there has been virtually no progress so far. Hundreds of teachers showed up at a school board meeting yesterday to show their displeasure with the pace of the talks.

"Whether or not a strike gets called is tied directly to progress, or lack thereof, in negotiations," Gottlieb said earlier today.

District spokeswoman Patricia McGlone said that "the board is continuing to negotiate in good faith; they hope to find a solution to the problem very soon. Both sides have been professional and cordial; they have been listening to each other." The district has more information, along with a strike contingency plan, on its Web site.

The Downingtown district, which has an enrolment of 11,724, is Chester County's largest.