NFT Puts New Work-to-Contract Action Into Effect

The Neshaminy Federation of Teachers [NFT] President Louise Boyd announced Wednesday in a that a "new, defined" work-to-contract action is effective immediately.

When school begins for teachers on August 29, they will follow these procedures as stated by Boyd:

• Teachers will report to work each day 15 minutes before the bell. They will meet at the flagpole each morning and walk into school together.
• Teachers will leave 15 minutes after the final bell.
• They will "prioritize their work each school day" and will not take work home from school.
• Teachers will participate in student orientations and scheduled Back-to-School nights. "Wherever parents and students are, we will be there too," Boyd said.

In a press release issued by the NFT, Louise Boyd said “taking this action was not easy, but the school board’s approach of negotiating by ultimatum has left teachers no options.”

“We are taking this action now— even as negotiations continue— to keep the focus on the importance of ending this stalemate," Boyd said in the release. “This prolonged and divisive distraction must be resolved for the sake of our children’s education.”

On June 20, members of the NFT . At the press conference, Boyd said that a strike is "absolutely" an option, depending on the actions of the school board.

"I can't say it frequently enough that it's really up the school board," she said.

When the school year begins in a few weeks, the teachers will be entering into their fourth year without a contract.

"This may seem like a mere technicality to a lot of people...however, this prolonged lack of a contract is more than just a technicality for teachers -- and for the children in their classrooms," Boyd said.

"For teachers it has meant years of professional and economic uncertainty," she continued. According to Boyd, a contract is "about much, much more than salary schedules and benefits."

Boyd said that contract provisions that address classroom policies and practices, professional development, collaboration between teachers and administrators and a "host" of other issues are just as important to the education of students.

"Those matters help determine the quality of the education that the Neshaminy School District offers the children in our community," Boyd said.

The NFT and school board are scheduled to hold a . According to Boyd, the board's negotiation strategy has been "to issue one ultimatum after another."

"For every step teaches have taken to find middle ground, the school board has taken two steps in the opposite direction," Boyd said.