Public Supports Marple Newtown Teachers Union At Tuesday Board Meeting

MARPLE-NEWTOWN, PA — As the Marple Newtown Education Association works to secure a contract more agreeable to their members, the parents, union members, and former teachers showed support for them during the Marple Newtown School District School Board meeting Tuesday.

"We just want to make sure people don't lose money they could get," MNEA negotiator and Marple Newtown High School math teacher Mike Snow told Patch in a previous interview.

Snow said a new contract doesn't even need to make pay equal to surrounding districts, just competitive.

Former district teacher Debby Peters pointed out to the board that the previous contract agreed upon between the union and district allocated just over 17 percent of its budget to teachers, while other districts allocated upwards of 20 percent to its teachers.

"What does that communicate for our teachers," she asked the board.

While Peters said new facilities, technology, and other upgrades in the district are welcome, she said the district is facing a "reckoning" regarding teacher staffing.

Snow said nearly four dozen teachers have left the district in recent years.

"Your teachers are leaving," she said. "Not just retirees, but the best and brightest teachers in the district because what you're offering is not the best that they can get."

Parent Justine Lehigh was brought to tears, telling the board her youngest child may not get to learn from the teachers her family has come to love.

"You all have the ability to make that change," she said, referencing what she described as "conservative" spending on teachers.

Snow told Patch the union's goal is to give its members more equitable pay for the region to retain them and address a potential shortage by making the district enticing for prospective hires.

Watch Tuesday's meeting below: