A breakfast Tuesday for school administration, teachers and staff started the school year with a sobering reminder: Teachers are losing patience with contract negotiations that have been going on since 2006.
"We have a lot of unfinished business," Haverhill Educators Association President Marc Harvey said to the nearly 1,000 teachers, administrators and supporting staff members at the DiBurro's breakfast.
The year-opening meeting, organized by Interim Superintendent James Scully, was the first of its kind the district had hosted in nearly four years.
Students returned to their classrooms on Wednesday.
Harvey said contract negotiations between the association and the city are at an impasse.
"We are bargaining at the worst time since the Great Depression," he said. "It is the longest unresolved teacher contract negotiation in the Commonwealth. It's our hope we can conclude our negotiations before any more members retire."
Harvey said many Haverhill teachers have been taking home consistently lower wages and benefits since 2003. Furthermore, he said the Value Options Plan that the city is offering through Blue Cross/Blue Shield would cost the average teacher $866 more in out of pocket co-pays. He added that the union would accept the city's proposed health plan following further negotiations.
"It should not be our goal in Haverhill to make our teachers the worst-paid in the state," he said. "What I don't want is to see any more cuts to our schools."
In 2009, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the average teacher in Haverhill took home a salary, not factoring benefits, taxes or other fees, of $66,326. Teachers from Methuen, Lawrence, Andover and North Andover earned $64,848, $67,701, $73,381 and $76,920, respectively. Haverhill teachers earn below the state average of $67,577.
He added, however, that teachers who live in Haverhill double as the voting public. Thus, it would fall upon them, he said, along with their voting friends and family, to unseat School Committee members who oppose reaching a compromise with the union and elect those who are more willing to negotiate. He noted that union membership had increased in recent years due to the influx of Education Support Professionals in the district.
"To one person, it may seem like your voice doesn't matter," he said. "If we act collectively, we have political power. We look forward to the 2011 elections."
At the conclusion of his remarks, he was met with a standing ovation.
Scully reminded teachers of the power of their positions while cautioning them about the images they project to the public and to students.
Scully addressed the standards of dress that many teachers follow and the uncaring attitude they can potentially display through their behavior.
"We need to think about our demeanor and how we are perceived," he said. "Are we just a group with guaranteed pensions?"
Scully said teachers play a pivotal role and have a "sacred duty" in the development of Haverhill's children.
"(Parents) see and feel the passion of your hearts in the children's' faces," he said.
Scully said discipline for unruly and disruptive students would quickly become a key issue for the administration in the coming year.
"It should not and will not be tolerated," he said.
Mayor James Fiorentini and School Committee member Joseph Bevilacqua, both of whom spoke at the breakfast, shared an optimistic outlook for the upcoming year.
"You're about to do the most important work in the city of Haverhill," said Fiorentini.
