B-R Teachers’ Union President Issues own Version of Stalled Talks

BREA officials Joe Krenetsky & Steve Beatty at 3/22/11 Board Mtg., among other observers.  (Bergeron Images)

Yesterday, immediately following release of a statement by the President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education concerning the status of the negotiations between it and the teacher’ union, the BREA issued its own press release, outlining its view of offers, counter-offers, and of why talks have stalled.

On Saturday, June 25^th this blog was first to report that discussions between the two parties had broken down on.

The full text of the BREA’S comments issued by its President, Mr. Steve Beatty, appears below without further comment:

B-R Board of Ed. President Reports Talks with Teachers’ Union have Stalled

Mr. Evan Lerner, then Board Vice-President, at a work session of the Board in Raritan, at the JFK School on 3/8/11. (Bergeron Images)

At the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education meeting last light, Board President Evan Lerner issued the statement below concerning negotiations between it and the teachers’ union, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association.  

According to those present at the meeting, after Mr. Lerner read the statement, there was no further discussion by the Board, and no members of the public rose to comment upon it, including representatives of the BREA who were present last evening.

On Saturday, June 25^th,  this blog was first to report that discussions between the two parties had broken down.

The full text of Mr. Lerner’s comments appears below without further comment:

Union Representatives Abandon Bargaining Talks

In several documents obtained on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (the BREA) informed its membership this week that it has broken off talks with the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education (the B-R BOE).

Thursday:   NJ Assembly seats await final vote on pension reform.

Mr. Joe Krenetsky, Negotiations Chair for the BREA, wrote to his constituency that “The BREA and the Board are at impasse, which means that we have ended the head-to-head process and are applying for a mediator to come in to help.”

Mr. Krenetsky indicated that his union had offered to “compromise” by trying “to meet the Board half-way, but that the Board has been unwilling to compromise in the least,”  adding that, “In fact, the Board has increased their demands instead of working towards an agreement.”

He also expressed concern that “Health Care legislation being discussed at this time will complicate our negotiations process a lot . . . it’s all connected to our negotiations.”  (Krenetsky was referring to the pension reform bills that have since passed the New Jersey Senate and Assembly.)

Governor Christie is expected to sign those proposals into law on Monday.

In an analogous communication to BREA membership one day before the New Jersey Assembly approved the pension reform bill, BREA  President Mr. Steve Beatty expressed similar sentiments when he indicated that: 

For Some, Perhaps a Summer of Discontent

How would you answer the question?  (NJN12 Screen shot/Dick Bergeron)

Things are about to change for public unions.

By day’s end on Thursday of this week, union members and the general population of New Jersey will witness the conclusion of a prolonged pension and health benefits battle which has been raging in this state for months.

The end is in sight. 

Unless there is a major surprise – don’t expect one – the bill that will be presented to the New Jersey Assembly for a vote on Thursday is expected to pass in a form little changed from that agreed to by the Senate.  (I outlined some of those provisions in my last post.)

One of the most significant aspects of this proposed legislation is that Republican Governor Chris Christie has lately been sitting quietly in the background, as the considerable firepower of public unions has been taking aim squarely at Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. 

Inter-Party Alliance Forces NJ Pension Reform Proposal

Who?  Me?  (TV Screen shot/Bergeron)

Yesterday, at the State House in Trenton, NJ, a rare event occurred:  A coalition of Democratic and Republican state legislators witnessed the passing of a committee resolution that is scheduled to go to the floor of the full Senate on Monday for an up or down vote.

Also on Monday, a similar committee headed by Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver will consider this highly controversial proposal.  The New Jersey Education Association and other public unions are fiercely opposed to these measures.

Should the NJ Senate approve the bill and should New Jersey’s Assembly concur, it will be presented to Governor Chris Christie for approval and codification into law.  Under the State Constitution, a budget must be passed by June 30.

On Friday, Governor Christie was the target of highly caustic, personal invectives by union demonstrators.  Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, both Democrats, were not far behind in experiencing similar union pressure to break away from Christie on this issue – to no avail, so far.

Meeting Scheduled with Union Reps Today

A negotiations committee of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education is expected to meet today with representatives of the BREA (the teachers union) in an effort to continue hammering out a potential agreement between the two parties.

Evan Lerner listens as Pat Breslin offers his opinion. (Bergeron Image)

Representing the B-R BOE are its President Evan Lerner; Board Member Jeffrey Brookner; Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Schilder who sits in; as well as a professional negotiator hired by the Board.

The current contract with the BREA – by far the largest bargaining unit – expires at the end of this month.  Meanwhile, contract talks with unions representing supervisors and principals are being held in abeyance awaiting the outcome of BREA negotiations.

A source close to these intermittent but ongoing talks informed me that after about four weeks of waiting, the BREA has received the B-R BOE’s latest offer.  That person was unable to comment on the likelihood that it would be accepted.

Expect People-Intensive School Board Meeting at High School



Cheryl Dyer, Assistant Superintendent (Bergeron Images)

The next work session of the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14^th, at 8:00 PM, in the High School on Garretson Road.  The meeting’s agenda is expected to attract a large group of parents who have become focused on a particularly controversial topic which may be resolved by Board action on Tuesday.

The issue relates to a staff report originally presented to the School Board on May 17^th and updated on May 24^th.  It concerns a proposal to establish an ESL (English as a Second Language) Magnet School Program at the Bradley Gardens Elementary School for students from kindergarten through 4^th grade. 

That plan, if implemented, would involve busing about 112 students from around the District to Bradley Gardens.  It also would involve consolidating another 12 ELL students (English Language Learners) at the Hillside School, accounting for a total of 124 students who would be bused away from their neighborhood schools.

Points of Outrage

Congressman Anthony Weiner (D) NY, (Google Photos)

Cape May, New Jersey.  Last Friday, when I had the privilege of standing before a class of 7^th graders at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School to discuss the Internet, its benefits and its pitfalls, I had no idea of how expansive the scandalous Internet conduct of Anthony Weiner, Congressman from the State of New York, and a front- running candidate to succeed Michael Bloomberg as mayor of New York City would become.

It was bad enough when he first stood in front of the cameras and the mikes in full denial of his abusive use of Twitter. It grew progressively worse, as his audacious lies grew increasingly implausible in a crescendo of public mendacity.

Middle School Hosts its First Book Fest

Yesterday, I drove east on the shoulder of the 2^nd Watchung Mountain Range, down into the heart of Bridgewater’s Washington Valley; up and across the 1^st Watchung Mountain on a narrow and curvy Mine Road; then down onto Foothill Road, still heading east.

Main entrance to the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School

That early morning drive on a brilliantly sunny day would take me to the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School where I had been invited, along with many others, to participate in its first annual Book Fest. 

As I neared my destination, turning right on Merriwood Drive and onto the school’s grounds, I came upon the daily lineup of empty yellow school buses tightly parked along the curvature of the entrance’s driveway, waiting for their cue to depart. 

If you’ve never seen it, it is a truly efficient sight to behold, because that row of buses speaks to the competency with which the B-R Transportation Department runs a tight ship, maintaining a schedule which leaves little room for error.  They departed just as I reached the main entrance, with a school employee waving them past, accounting for each vehicle as it roared by.

This would be an interesting day.  Kristy Shurina, 7^th grade teacher of Language Arts and Literature, had asked me to speak to students on the topic of Internet blogging.  Mrs. Shurina, who has been on maternity leave, is returning to the classroom in the fall.  She and I, working as a team, were to engage the students.  I would cover the nature of blogging, and she would speak about how to comment responsibly to blog authors.