Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Former school board member William O’Connor submitted this letter on the MaST Charter School application.
- OPINION
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Wednesday, February 13
Editor's Note: The following was submitted by former member of the Neshaminy School Board William O'Connor. He wrote down his personal views to be read into the record at Monday night's MaST Charter School hearing. O'Connor let us publish his remarks. A charter school is a lot like the back-up quarterback on a football team. Nobody knows they’re even around if the team is winning, but once fans see their team faltering, then everyone wants to give the #2 guy a chance to see what they can do. Such is the case with Neshaminy, where many parents are losing faith in our public education because of years of contract strife and power struggles with our teachers’ union. They see this as an opportunity to try something different, in hopes the …
Saturday, December 29, 2012
A Feasterville resident and Neshaminy parent/taxpayer breaks down the list of what he calls the NFT's list of "unacceptable issues."
- OPINION
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Patch by Feasterville resident and Neshaminy parent/taxpayer Stephen Pirritano. This coming January 2, 2013 the NFT leadership will meet with membership to discuss the board's final offer. Originally as reported this meeting was also supposed to have been a vote on that final offer as per the indication from the State Mediator to Mr. Webb. Ms. Boyd although has walked away from that statement as per recent article(s) and as well denied that she ever indicated to the State Mediator that she committed to bring the offer to a vote. She has also commented that all options are on the table for her membership to consider including a strike vote. Recently the NFT Outreach Committee has …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb discusses
- SCHOOLS
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Monday, December 10, 2012
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Patch by Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb. Neshaminy residents are already aware of the "equal say" doctrine within our teacher’s contract and how that practice is used to protect the status quo, often to the detriment of our students and district. However, there is another aspect to the contract that is often overlooked by the public even though it every bit as powerful, if not more so, than equal say. The other contractual issue I am referring to is past practice, which in combination with equal say is what gives the NFT de facto veto power over administration. “Section 11-1: Except as this Agreement shall otherwise provide, all terms and conditions of employment …
Friday, September 21, 2012
Feasterville resident Stephen Pirritano breaks down Council Rock and Neshaminy's current salary schedules.
- SCHOOLS
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Friday, September 21, 2012
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Patch by Feasterville resident and Neshaminy parent/taxpayer Stephen Pirritano. Dear Residents, As you may already be aware the Neshaminy School Board has offered the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers a parity contract with the Council Rock School District. To simplify items here related to salary, I have included both the current status quo Neshaminy salary schedule and the proposed CR Salary Schedule. **These are attached to this article as PDFs** Currently Neshaminy has seniority steps 1 thru 11, This is the July 1,2007 schedule that was last in effect on June 30, 2008 when the contract went into Status Quo. The proposed CR Schedule has Seniority steps 0 thru 11. In the recent …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
A Feasterville resident writes about the Neshaminy School District's $18 million reserve.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Patch by Feasterville resident and Neshaminy parent/taxpayer Stephen Pirritano. When the NFT talks about the Neshaminy School District having an $18 million reserve this is what that $18 million represents. It is technically true that on the books there is $18 million so now let’s do the accounting for it, or the math. $2 million are for bills left unpaid from the 2010 budget now we have $16 million $4 million is what the board has put away for current and future PSERS costs. Fact: the June 30, 2012 PSERS rate is 8.63 percent and as of July 1, 2012 it is 12.36 percent. The State has warned that as early as 2016 it may reach 20+ percent of payroll. So now we are down to $12 million. $3.9 …
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Feasterville resident writes about what he expects from Neshaminy School District's non-binding arbitration.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Patch by Feasterville resident and Neshaminy parent/taxpayer Stephen Pirritano. What to expect from arbitration in Neshaminy? Keep your expectations grounded. While I am hopeful it can be fruitful, I do not expect it to end in a resolution. I am not an expert by any means on arbitration nor do I discount the possibility of helping to move negotiations forward but remember the financial considerations that the Board has put forth to the NFT are not fluid they are real and a definite reality. A reality that the NFT and their leaders have refused to recognize for four years now. Read more: School Board, NFT Engage in Non-Binding Arbitration I do find it somewhat implausible to think all 50…
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb talks about how the district and union got to a strike.
Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Patch by Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb. After four years of fruitless contract negotiations, the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT) has chosen to escalate our impasse by enacting a strike effective Monday, January 9. Make no mistake about it - this job action is aimed directly at the students and the parents of Neshaminy, in hopes that you will panic, and in turn pressure your school board into making contractual concessions this district cannot afford. The question on the minds of so many residents is how did we get here? It all stems from a collective bargaining agreement signed 10 years ago that gave our teachers an unprecedentedly expensive and powerful control …
BucksDad
9:07 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
It's ironic that the "backup quarterback" in this case is ranked #34 in the entire state while Neshaminy isn't even ranked. I think I'd make the switch at Quarterback in that case, unless you want to continue to lose of course. Maybe Mr O'Conner is hoping for a higher draft pick next year? more ›