Disruptions As Downingtown Teachers Strike
By Dan Hardy, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Jan. 30–Teachers went on strike yesterday in the Downingtown Area School District, and with no new talks scheduled, parents were scrambling to find child care.
At Downingtown West High School, dozens of pickets silently filed along the sidewalk in a drizzle on Manor Road, starting at 11:30 a.m., with some passing drivers honking their support. The same scene was repeated with variations at four other schools and at the district headquarters. Pickets held signs saying "Want the Best Education? Keep the Best Teachers," and "Simply the Best: Teachers; Simply Mediocre: Pay & Benefits."
On instructions from their union, the teachers declined to comment on the strike, referring questions to Pennsylvania State Education Association staffer Paul Gottlieb.
The main issue is wages: The two sides are about $2 million apart over four years. The school board proposed annual raises of 4.4 percent, 4.5 percent, 4.5 percent and 4.6 percent; the district’s 850 teachers want 4.85 percent raises in the first three years of a proposed five-year contract and 4.6 percent in the last two. Starting salary in the district is $43,300, with the top wage at $81,815. The average is $58,915.
State law says the striking teachers must return to work in time for the district’s 11,730 students to receive 180 days of education by June 15. The Education Department has not yet calculated how many days that means the strike can go on; estimates range from 12 to 23.
The Brandywine YMCA and the Lionville Community YMCA are operating programs at the district’s two high schools for kindergartners through fifth graders. There is limited availability at East High, where the program’s capacity is 200, officials said. At West High, where the capacity is 100 children, there are still openings. Interested parents can enroll through the district’s Web site, www.dasd-adm.org.
The district said it would continue to operate varsity athletic programs during the strike — the first in the district since 1980.
At Downingtown West, about a dozen students showed up yesterday morning to "see what is going on," said junior Paul DiNunzio, but were told to leave by school officials before pickets arrived. Most said they supported the teachers. "The school board ought to settle for what they’re asking," DiNunzio said. Added classmate John Markward: "They should get more money."
The main thing that bothered the students, junior Chris Delsordo said, was that teachers had assigned homework to be done during the strike.
In a brief interview Monday, union president Lisa Anderson, a biology teacher at Downingtown East High School, said: "We are upset that we were not able to come to an agreement. We have attempted from the very beginning to do everything we could to prevent a strike." She blamed the school board’s unwillingness to submit the remaining issues to binding arbitration.
The board proposed nonbinding arbitration instead, saying it did not want to put the decision-making power in outside hands; the teachers refused that offer.
School board member and head negotiator Alice Johnson said yesterday that district residents sided with the board, judging from e-mails. "It’s less about what they’re asking for and more about what the community is saying they’ll support and what we think is fair and equitable," she said.
Gottlieb responded: "The board has not surveyed the community. The board has elected to spend its money on bricks and mortar and not . . . in education." The district is ninth of 12 in the county in career teacher earnings, he said, adding: "I don’t think the community is aware of that."
Parents interviewed outside the Giant grocery store in Uwchlan, near Lionville Middle School and Downingtown East High School, had mixed views.
Jennifer Hammer, mother of a first grader at Uwchlan Hills Elementary School, said: "I think they should give the teachers what they fairly deserve. I love the teachers, and it’s a good school district. It’s a hard job. I wouldn’t want to do it; they’re taking care of our kids all day."
Tammy Fenton-Ward, who has one child at Lionville Middle School and one at Shamona Creek Elementary School, said: "I’m angry." The teachers, she said, "have quite good benefits compared to what other people pay and the starting salaries are very reasonable. I think it’s sad that our children — and parents — are caught in the middle; I want a quick solution."
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Strike Update
The school district says its Web site and hotline will be updated daily at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. According to the Web site, the community will be informed by 5 p.m. whether schools will open the next day.
The Web site is at www.dasd-adm.org.
The hotline is 610-450-4362.
The teachers Web address is www.daeateachers.org.
Contact staff writer Dan Hardy at 610-701-7638 or dhardy@phillynews.com.
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