School Tax Increase-Teachers Contract

At its meeting December 7, the Great Valley school board (by a vote of 5-3) declared that they will not raise taxes next year by more than allowed by the Act 1 index (2.4%). If the past is any indicator this means they will raise taxes by 2.4%. At the same meeting they also made the announcement that they are considering a teachers contract extension, starting June 2016, (Another “Early Bird” contract) that will give teachers an annual pay increase of 2.8% times two years equals a 5.6% increase (see announce below). In other words the teachers would get more than the increase in taxes. The great valley teachers with an average salary of $90,000/year are some of the highest paid teachers in the state with much better benefits than most private company employees. And over the next 5 years our school district, like many others, will face big increases in spending required to fund the teachers’ retirement plans. If this is of interest to you please write your school board members , their addresses are that the District website. And please attend the special meeting planned at the district office next Monday December 14, when they will vote on this.

Announcement at GVSD website:

http://www.gvsd.org

http://www.gvsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=1

Board Announces Possible Contract Extension with GVEA

At its meeting on December 7, Great Valley School Board President David Barratt announced that the Board will vote on an extension of the current agreement with the Great Valley Education Association (GVEA) on Monday, December 14 at a special meeting. In anticipation of the current agreement’s expiration in June 2016, representatives of the Great Valley School Board began meeting with GVEA representatives in the fall of 2015. Since then, the two groups met several times to discuss a possible extension of the prior agreement that was approved less than two years ago.

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