Vol. 103 No. Dallas, PA Wednesday, February 12, 1992 Back . Mountain Baseball | |--registration will be held i 4 Thursday, Feb. 13 from 7 ! ®o 9 p.m. at the Dallas y American Legion. Sports aA = page. fike Guerin “chalks up 100th wrestling win. Page 14. Dallas High Class of '71 holds reunion. Page 8. "Red Cross Blood Drive, | Tuesday, Feb. 18, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dallas United Methodist | Church. Page 8. Payne Printery rinishes undefeated to win Dallas rec basketball title. Qs ports page. Design change In response to complaints from subscribers about i labels overlapping the headline and story at the top left of the front page, we have created the Inside Story column. This change will hopefully correct the label problem while provid- ing a quick reference to items that appear on inside pages. Please let us know whether or not you like the change. Calendar.............. 18 Classified........ 16-17 j Editorials. ............... 4 Obituaries............ 13 Police report.......... 2 Property transfers..2 SPOHS...............0l : do (of \M ICY (FPA R IB FOR HOME DELIVERY, BR NEWS OR ADVERTISING Stalemate: no contract, no strike By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff Steve Werner, president of the Dallas Taxpayers Forum, called it “democracy in action.” William Wagner, president of the Dallas teacher's union, called it “a carnival.” About 1,100 people packed the Dallas Middle School auditorium Monday, Feb- ruary 10, to show their concern, and sometimes anger over the state of contract negotiations with the teachers. On February 4, the school board offered the teachers a 4 percent raise for their choice of two or three years. On Friday, February 7, the district's teachers voted 113 to 14 to reject that offer. | The rejection was the latest in a series of rejected offers and counter-offers. When negotiations began in January, 1991, the teachers requested a 9.85 percent average raise for each year of a five-year contract. A state fact-finder issued a report in December recommending a four-year contract with an 8.75 percent average pay increase. The school board rejected the report. Their offer of a two-year contract with a $2,450 yearly increase was turned down by the teachers. During Mondays's meeting, board member James Richardson said that the board now will start from scratch in nego- tiations, but called a 3 to 4% increase “palatable.” The Dallas Taxpayers Forum, formed in the fall to protest what they call outra- geous teacher salary demands, has gath- ered more than 3,000 signatures on a petition urging a two-year teacher wage freeze and the implementation of a merit pay program. “We're asking them to wait two years and see how the economy is,” said Werner, president of the Forum, restating the by demand for a pay freeze. To show support I A for the freeze, Werner dumped a basket of coupons sent to the Forum on the floor, all demanding a wage freeze. “I know that the general public is going to be upset, but I feel that we can justify what we have done,” said Richardson, who was met by a few boos from the crowd. According to superintendent Gerald Wycallis, each percentage point increase means an approximately $55,000 increase in the district's payroll. Board member See STALEMATE, pg 10+ Replacing strikers is an option By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff If teachers in the Dallas School District call a strike, one option open to the school board is to hire replacement teachers. That tactic has been used with increasing frequency in Pennsylvania this year. Dallas teachers have been work- ing without a contract since Au- gust 31. While no job actions have been taken, the Dallas Education Association has authorized its negotiating team to call a strike at the team’s discretion. If it did so, it would be the first strike in the district's history. Two other districts in the state, Tri-Valley and Upper Dauphin, began the 1991-92 schol year with similar predicaments which de- generated into strikes within two or three weeks after school opened. According to Superintendent Robert Franklin of Tri-Valley, the strike there began after school had been in session one day. He said that 12th grade students were concerned that the strike would delay graduation, affecting sum- mer jobs and summer college courses. In order to keep classes running smoothly and insure that the school year was not disrupted, the school board authorized the ad- ministration to call in replacement teachers for seniors only. After one day, the regular teachers decided to return to work. Upper Dauphin’'s teachers walked the picket line for 13 days at the end of September. Superin- tendent Dr. Andrew Hills said that the school board called in replace- ment teachers on the advice of the Pennsylvania School Boards As- sociation. After eight school days most schools were operating with Giddy-up See REPLACEMENTS, pg 5 : ax Heather Fostock, a senior at Lake-Lehman High School, apparently gave up on using gentle persuasion to motivate her mount in the donkey basketball game at the school February 7. The seniors play the faculty each year in the fundraising event. (Post Photo/Charlotte Bartizek) FOOD COLLECTION FOR RUSSIA - Members of six Back Mountain churches met Friday, February 7, to plan “To Russia With Love,” a food collection for Russia. The committee includes, front row from left: Jason Blandford, Karla Narkiewicz and Jean Brennan; second row: Cindy Ursiak and Morag Michael; third row: Rev. Michael Bealla of Dallas UMC, Rev. James Shillabeer of Trucksville UMC, Deb Blandford, Dotti Markoski and Linda Festa. (Post photo/Grace R. Dove) Salaries beat other careers By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff The Dallas Taxpayers Forum, formed in the fall to protest what they consider outrageous demands by the teachers union, has gotten | a lot of mileage comparing the | average Dallas teacher's salary of $38,646 to the average Luzern County annual income of $19,00 The comparison has helped the group gather more than 3,000 signatures on a petition urging for atwo-year teacher wage freeze the implementation of a merit pay program. William Wagner, president of the Dallas teacher's union, says they're not comparing apples to apples. i “Compare us with professional people in the Back Mountain. F Let's find people with 22 years service, master's level plus 365 credits,” says Wagner. i Of the 142 teachers in the dis- trict, Wagner says at least 125 of them are at master’s level plus 36 | credits. i “As far as ethics go, if a teacher is convicted of drunk driving you lose your job,” said Wagner. “It's written in the state code. There's noone else held to that, Idon't care if you're a doctor or a dentist.” / Wagner also points to the edu- | cational requirements to be a teacher - holding a bachelors de- gree and earning 24 credits be- yond that within six years. a “Everybody in this district is | rated twice a year. To my knowl- | edge, everybody is rated satisfac- tory,” said Wagner. “There is no | such thing as outstanding, You've | only got satisfactory and unsatis- factory.” A comparison of wages : So what do other professionals See SALARIES, pg 10 Local churches collect food to send to Russia By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Trucksville United . Methodist church is sponsoring a food collec- tion for Russia on Sunday, Febru- ary 16, to help with that nation’s current food crisis. “Prices are skyrocketing and many people simply do not have the money to buy food,” explained Rev. James Shillabeer. “We're not collecting luxury items. Our basic word is survival.” Food lines in the former Soviet Union are very long even for those who can afford the high prices. Due to age, illness or handicaps, many people cannot wait for hours in food lines, according to a press release from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. “Can you imagine how frustrat- ing it must be to stand in the cold for hours in line, only to learn that they're sold out once you finally reach the store?” Shillabeer asked. Morag Michael of the church's E Mission Society added that dona- tions must follow strict packaging descriptions so that all the foods arrive intact. And only specific food items have been requested. (See box accompanying this story.) Donations may be brought to either the 9 a.m. or the 11 a.m worship services Sunday, Febru- ary 16, or to the church's educa- tion building by Wednesday, Feb- = ruary 19 for packing. AE Cash donations are also wel- come, Ms. Michael said; money is needed to buy special shipping boxes. Checks should be made out | to Trucksville United Methodist Church. “You don't have to be a member of a church to donate,” Ms. Mi- chael added. “We appreciate eve- ryone's help with this project.” Called “To Russia With Love,” | the collection is coordinated by the See FOOD, pg 10
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