eh a _ William Peiffer casting the Vol. 102 No. Dallas, PA Tuesday, December 24, 1991 35 Cents Dallas board rejects 8.75% salary hike for teachers By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff It's back to the drawing board for the Dallas School Board and its teachers. : The long-awaited fact-finder’s report on the Dallas School Dis- tsict's contract negotiations with ##% teachers has not moved the district and teachers’ union closer to a new agreement. .Thedistrict's 142 teachers voted unanimously to accept the report as the basis for a contract, accord- Dallas Borough taxes rise By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff though Dallas Borough will A 1991 with $4,286.92 on hand, residents face a tax increase for 1992 so the borough can catch up on old bills. The present 14 mill property tax willbe increased to 16 mills, while the per capita tax will increase from $5 to $10. Thel992 budget of $503,506 was passed December 17 with councilman one Poa dissenting voters ial aiitee ah hmented Council PresidentDon Cooper. “Our revenues have stead- ily dropped over the past three wears, possibly due to the condi- ®dn the economy, while our ex- ‘peénses have increased. I commend the Council for all their work on the budget. It's a difficult situation for new members, to have to con- Nu is’no fat in this budget,” Cc _ front a tax increase at the begin- ning of their terms.” Cooper explained that the tax increases are expected to generate approximately $22,000 in reve- nues, which, combined with the cash on hand, will balance the borough's 1992 budget. A, “We're not operating with a dillcit.” Cooper continued. “We have some outstanding bills, such as money owed to the road pension fund, increases in the police con- tract and a loan for the new police cruiser, which must be paid in January. Our ending balance is a true balance, not a paper bal- ance.” Cooper also commended Dallas Borough Manager Milton Lutsey for his financial expertise which * + See BOROUGH, pg 2 By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff . Santa's elves usually wear cute red or green outfits and scamper busily around the North Pole pre- paring for Christmas. But for more than 1,200 area families, Santa's Helpers proudly wear Marine camouflage uniforms and big smiles as they distribute toys to families with kids under 15 years ing to William Wagner, president of the Dallas teachers’ union... But the school board voted unanimously to reject the report at an executive session December 17. The major stumbling blocks are salaries and the length of the contract. a The teachers originally asked for a five-year contract with a 9.85% average increase, according to the fact-finder’s report. The school board offered a shorter contract — two years — with a $2,100 raise each year. That was later changed to three- years with a $2,450 raise each year. Fact-finder John Hamrick of Bethlehem recommended a four- year contract with an average sal- ary increase of 8.75% a year, along with some increases in health and insurance benefits. Hamrich sug- gested an 8.5% increase in the current year, 8.75% each of the next two years and 9% the fourth year. The proposal would bring the average teacher's salary from the current $39,620, the highest in the area, to $55,416 in the 1994- 1995 school year. “What we're saying is we can live with the fact-finder,” said Wagner. “The feeling of the people was it was an impartial finding. It wasn't what] felt. It wasn't what the board felt.” The school board however can- not live with the fact finder’s rec- ommendations. “Ido not feel that itis in any way realistic or reflects what is hap- pening in the economy,” said board By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff home to friends and family. of age. And the students at Lake- Noxen School helped make the gifts possible this year. In its yearly “Toys for Tots” campaign, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve solicits donations of toys to be distributed to needy families. According to Sgt. Donald Funk of the Marine Corps Reserve Train- ing Center in Wyoming, the Ma- rines met their goal of approxi- mately 45,000 toys, which were EE ER SR ee Calendar............. 18 : Classified........ 16-17 ~Editorials....---...---... 4 = ObItuaries....---:.-«.. 6 Police report.......... 2 Property transfers..3 School... lin... 8 SPONS.....0cc or iineshins 9 Community Events CHRISTMAS EVE CHURCH SERVICES: Dallas United Methodist Church, 7:00 PM. Trucksville United Methodist Church, 7:30 PM. idetown United Methodist Church, 7:00 PM. Fellowship Evangilical Free Church, 7:00 PM. Shavertown United Methodist Church, 7:00 and 10:00 PM. St. Therese's Church, 4:30 PM, 7:00 PM and Midnight. Emmanuel Assembly of God Church, 6:30 PM. "CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING For many, the holidays are a time to return GOING DOWN TO LONDON TOWN - Shown from left are Dallas Cheerleaders Wendy Vaughn, Tami Landon, and Ginger Williams. The three cheerleaders will perform in England over the Christ- mas Holiday as part of the American All Stars Cheerleading Squad. (Post Photo/Eric Foster) Trio from Dallas will cheer in London Westminister's New Year's Celebration at the Royal Albert Hall. Along with their mothers, the three will be in Britain until January 2, squeezing in time to tour : the country. The families are paying the cost of the But for Dallas High cheerleaders Ginger Wil- liams, Tami Landon, and Wendy Vaughn, the Christmas holiday will be a time for travel. The day after Christmas, the three cheerlead- ers will be boarding a plane in New Jersey to fly to Great Britain to perform for the Lord Mayor of trip. 1991. distributed tol,200 families Fri- day, December 20. Parents pick up the toys and take them home to wrap and place under the Christ- mas tree for their children, Sgt. Funk explained. Individuals, corporate sponsors and school groups like the Lake- Noxen students donated tons of toys. Private cash contributions were used to purchase more gifts. Several Lake-Noxen sixth-grad- The three cheerleaders, along with Jamie Mani- skas, tried out for the National All Stars Cheer- leading Squad at Penn State University in July of Out of nearly 100, they were chosen to See CHEERLEADERS, pg 3 Lake-Noxen youngsters collect "Toys for Tots’ ers explained why they helped out. Kim Halowich said, “It's something special to do for the holidays, special for me as well as for the kids.” Toni Bartholomew added, “For me, it's as much fun giving presents as opening my own.” “It's nice to help someone out at the holidays,"Mike Casey said. “I felt sorry for the kids who See TOYS, pg 2 DAMA changes schedule, lifts bag limit for holidays Because of the holidays, the Dallas Area Municipal Authority (DAMA) will not collect trash or recyclables on Christmas Day, December 25, or New Years Day, January 1. For both weeks, the collection schedule will be one day late for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's collection. Wednesday collection will be on Thursday, Thursday collection on Friday, and Friday collection on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday collection will remain the same. Because of the large volume of trash generated during the holi- days, there will be no bag limit beginning Christmas week and ending January 4. “We're also saying that even though there's no bag limit for the holiday season, please try to re- cycle as much as possible,” said Tom Bagley, executive director of DAMA. With two quarterly bills already sent, the first due in September and the second in December, Bagley said that 80% to 85% of the residents have paid their bills - in contrast with the 95% payment rate that the authority expects with their sewer bills. See DAMA, pg 2 member Ellen Nagy. “It's totally based on what other school dis- tricts have given their employees. To me it's flawed logic. In my view by basing it only on what other school districts are doing, it's just an ever-continuing building proc- ess. It's just totally unconnected with reality.” “We value our teachers, we have wonderful teachers. It would be wonderful if we could afford to pay what they're asking. But the traffic won't bear it,” continued Nagy. “They should get a raise. I don't Fact-finder agree with the Taxpayers Forum.” (The recently-formed Dallas Tax- payers’ Forum has suggested a two-year wage freeze.) But said Nagy, “today the aver- age raise is 3, 4, 5% if people are getting a raise at all.” Both Nagy and Ernest Ashbr- idge, president of the school board, point out that the districts with which the fact-finder compared Dallas negotiated their teacher contracts in better economic times. See BOARD REJECTS, pg 10 apparently ignored data about local economy, wages By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff When fact-finder John Hamrick was preparing his report on nego- tiations between the Dallas School District and its teachers, among the data he was supposed to con- sider — in addition to what other area school districts are doing — were wage trends in area indus- tries and businesses, and the number of fixed-income house- holds. When the report was finally re- leased he @ever, scant attention was paid te tiie state of the econ- omy, while teacher contracts in other districts were dealt with in detail. “Some of the fact finders, if they don't feel satisfied with what has been presented at the hearing, will do outside research,” said Patricia Crawford, Secretary of the Labor Relations Board which arranges for fact-finding hearings. “For the most part, they limit themselves to what is presented by the parties.” School board member John Cleary and Dallas superintendent Gerald Wycallis say that the school board brought up the current state of the economy, fixed-income households, and wage trends. The infermation was given short- shrift in the report. In the first paragraph of the section on sala- ries, the report mentions a millage increase, the county's unemploy- ment rate, and the state's declin- ing contribution to the district's budget. No mention is made of what typical salary increases have .. been this year for other businesses. ~ While sometimes teacher sala- - ries are compared with those in other professions, Crawford says that “it's more typical to use just other school districts.” As the section on salaries nears it conclusion, the report begins a’ paragraph with, “An examination of the evidence...” The evidence cited is limited to See FACT-FINDER, pg 10 = Complete text of the fact- finder's report on wages Following is the text of the Fact- Finder's report and recommenda- tions on teacher salaries. It is pre- sented in full. The entire report contained 52 pages, of which six were devoted to this topic. WAGES AND SALARIES: Both parties presented numerous ex- hibits to support their positions. The School District presented evi- dence that its real estate millage rate rose from 116 mills from 1986- 87 to 158 mills in 1991-92. It also pointed out the condition of the economy and the 8.7% unemploy- ment rate in Luzerne County in June, 1991. It noted that the bur- den of financing the cost of educa- tion is being shifted more to the local school districts and the amount of funding from the state is uncertain and declining. In 1986- 87. the state's contributic: "ms 44.7% of the District's budget whiiie the District contributed 53.9%. In the 1991-92 budget, the state's contribution has declined to 37.9% while the District's contribution has increased to 60.4%. One of the reasons the District seeks a two year contract is because of the uncertainties in state funding. The School District noted that it did not disagree with the Associa- tion's analysis of its financial con- dition but it maintains it should not be penalized for its conserva- tive fiscal policy which has brought about a financially responsible budget. The Association stated the District's local tax effort has de- creased in light of a marked in- crease in the market value of tax- able property. The District main- tained that that fact alone does not mean the taxpayers can afford to pay increased taxes because many are on fixed incomes. The fact that the value of their property has risen does not mean they are able to afford to pay higher taxes. The Association concluded that the School District is in good fi- nancial conditior Tt noted th~t the District's actual fund valance on June 30, 1990 was $729,181.00 of which $656,716.00 was used to balance the 1990-91 budget leav- ing $72,465.00 unallocated. The District's 1991-92 budget projects a 1990-91 ending fund balance of $301.191.00 as revenue used to balance 1991-92 expenditures. It stated that its analysis indicated that the actual 1990-91 balance carried into the 1991-92 budget was understated by at least $100,000.00. The Association's objective dur- ing these negotiations is to main- tain its salary structure and other benefits in line with salary struc- tures, of not only its neighboring school districts, but with other school districts of comparable wealth throughout the state. To support its objectives, the Asso- ciation has presented numerous exhibits and financial information i, ar .cmpt to show that the school district does have the abil- ity to meet its demands. : The positions of both parties have merit. The School Board rec- ognizes the need for quality educa- tion and has shown its support by providing the teachers with comi- parable or better wages and bene- fits over the past years. It also recognizes its responsibility to the taxpayers who must foot the bill and are growing more and more vociferous in their opposition to tax increases at all levels of gov- ernment. The Association, on the other hand, is attempting to keep its members, at least, abreast with the wages and benefits of teachers in other school districts. On the other hand, the Association recog- nized the dilemma of the School Board by showing its willingness to compromise on a number of issues and to discuss other issues in order toreach an amicable agree- ment. It seems that both parties are interested in maintaining the sce REPORI, pg 10
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers