SOM Teacher Contract Talks at Impasse

With the current teachers' contract set to expire on June 30, negotiations between the South Orange - Maplewood Board of Education and the South Orange Maplewood Education Association (SOMEA) teachers' union -- which only began in April -- appear to be at a stalemate.

Sandra Karriem, chairperson of the BOE negotiating task force, said Monday night that SOMEA's representative told the board last month that the union did not agree with any of the board's proposals and therefore saw "no reason to move forward or to continue meeting."

Karriem said SOMEA has officially filed a declaration of impasse with the State of New Jersey's Public Employment Relations Committee (PERC), which means "that SOMEA is unwilling to negotiate further without intervention...and the parties will have to enter into mediation," said Karriem.

Karriem also said the SOMEA rep told the BOE it doesn't "represent the kids." 

"...our Board does represent the kids," said Karriem Monday night. "We also represent the staff and taxpayers." She said during the mediation process, employees would continue to receive full salary and benefits, which total more than $45,000,000 per year.

Karriem said the Board appreciates the teachers' hard work in helping to achieve district goals. She continued, "We will continue to work diligently to enhance the quality of education for all our students while agreeing to terms and conditions of employment for our staff consistent with the present economic climate and in the best interest of our children, staff and taxpayers."

Although the current contract required the two parties to begin negotiations in February, SOMEA had said it wouldn't be ready to negotiate until mid-March. They then pushed that date back to April.

The current contract was approved in May of 2011, after two and a half years of negotiations -- and two years of teachers going without a contract.