It is now October 1, 2023, the beginning of the second month of the new school year in Newtown. The contract between the Newtown School District and the Newtown Teacher Association expired on June 30, 2023. Since then, the Board of Education and representatives of the Teacher Association have met on several occasions in an attempt to finalize the contract, but these attempts have not been successful. Prior to June 30 and during the summer months, there was increasing talk among the membership of the Teacher Association of the possibility of calling a strike if the contract was not finalized by the start of the school year. However, the executive of the Teacher Association agreed that, for the benefit of the community, the teachers would resume normal operations on opening day throughout the system, without a contract, on a day-to-day basis. This was in response to parent pressure to resume normal operations. Parents have been placing pressure on both teachers and the board to keep schools operating, but they have twice defeated referenda on increased taxes to cover budgetary increases over and above those of the previous year. Owing to decreased enrollments, fixed income from local taxes and from provincial and federal grants, and increased costs, maintaining the school budget at a level consistent with the previous year would produce a budget shortfall. As a result, the board feels that if the system is to function effectively within its budgetary constraints to the end of the current fiscal year (June 30), programs and personnel must be cut and teachers productivity (workload) must be increased. The Board of Education is caught between the Teacher Association and community pressure groups. The board believes that it must satisfy the pressure groups and at the same time keep the teachers on the job with a contract that is acceptable to the bargaining units membership. The board is concerned that if it fails to respond appropriately to community pressures for cost reductions, the board members may be removed. The boards primary objective, therefore, is to cut costs while retaining as many programs as possible. It hopes to accomplish this through cutbacks in the number of teaching personnel and increases in teacher workload. The board also wishes to eliminate certain existing agreements in order to increase productivity. To achieve this objective, the board wants to negotiate a three-year contract that will stabilize the situation by creating orderly and predictable budgetary needs that will be seen to be less excessive by various community groups. The Teacher Association, on the other hand, wants a one-year contract in order to maintain flexibility. 2 The Teacher Association also feels caught between community pressure groups, who hope that a strike can be averted, and the boards apparent unwillingness to fight for increased budgetary allocations to run the system. The teachers feel that the board has not confronted the community over its unwillingness to accept increased taxation in order to pay for education, and that its response to this community unwillingness is simply to pass the burden along to the teachers. Newtown is a relatively settled and stable upper-middle-income community with a strong interest in quality education. However, as mentioned, the residents are reluctant to increase the communitys already burdensome tax rate. The Newtown School District consists of 12 schools: nine elementary schools (kindergartenGrade 8) and three senior high schools. The student population is 12,000, divided into 8,000 elementary and 4,000 high school students. The bargaining unit consists of 250 elementary teachers in all categories and 125 high school teachers in all categories. Both sides wish to conclude an agreement to avert a strike. However, the Teacher Associations bargaining team is adamantly committed to improving the conditions of its membership, and the board is just as committed to keeping its costs as low as possible. Nevertheless, each side feels it has some room to move on certain issues.

Benefits
Initial Offer: No accumulated sick leave upon severance, and reducing bereavement leave to 2 days.	Desired Settlement: No accumulated sick leave upon severance, and reducing bereavement leave to 2 days. Only jury duty will be paid	Bottom Line: No accumulated sick leave upon severance