Mount Laurel Educators Protest Stalled Salary Negotiations

MOUNT LAUREL TOWNSHIP, NJ – Frustrated by the lack of a salary increase and a new contract, about 500 members of the Mount Laurel Township Education Association, all wearing red, walked into the school district’s schools at exactly the same time Tuesday morning.

It was not a coincidence, Doug Bozarth, the group’s president and a math and social studies teacher within the district, told Patch.

“Everyone knows teachers never work their actual day, and that we often come in early," he told Patch. "But [Tuesday] we are showing what it would be like if our teachers really worked the contractual day they are paid for.”

Rising inflation and increasing gas prices justify education association members receiving a salary increase, Bozarth said.

The education association and school board had a “tentative agreement” back in January, but the school board has since rescinded that offer, according to Bozarth.

“We are suffering because our salaries are not changing,” he said.

The education association members chose to wear red because it is the color of unity, Bozarth said.

Many education association members also hung placards from their car’s windows Tuesday morning to show their frustration over the lack of a contract, he said. Some even backed their vehicles into a parking spot to increase the chances parents or guardians dropping their children or charges off at school would see the placard, he continued.

In addition, members of the education association plan on attending Tuesday’s night school board meeting to restart the stalled salary negotiations, Bozarth added.

Mt. Laurel Twp. Superintendent George J. Rafferty did not return a call from Patch seeking comment prior to this story’s posting.

---

Hi there, South Jersey! Got a news tip? Story idea? Email me the details at janel.miller@patch.com. You can also get Patch local and statewide news alerts sent directly to your phone by downloading our new app.