Pocono News Section

Lake-Lehman Teachers on Strike Again

Lake-Lehman Teachers on Strike Again - Monday, October 15, 2007 at 3:09PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Oct 15, 2007 @03:09pm EST
LEHMAN TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY- More than 2,100 students in the Lake-Lehman School District are out of the classroom. Teachers have been working without a contract since August 2006, and today's strike marks the second walkout in less than a year.

Armed with picket signs, more than 150 teachers traded their warm classrooms for the cold streets Monday morning. Both the teachers union and the school board have been trying to hammer out a new contract for 21 months. Teachers' union representative John Holland said, “If they put a decent proposal on the table, we would look at it and sit down and truly, that would be an incentive to come back."

The main stumbling blocks in negotiations are salary increases and healthcare. Right now, Lake-Lehman teachers are the lowest paid educators in Luzerne County and they say a 2.5% raise isn't enough. But it’s healthcare issues that have many people in the community up in arms.

Ann Marie Shonis said, I have to pay co-pays. I don't know why they complain about have to pay co-pays. To me, it’s not a big deal because a lot of people in the district don't even have insurance."

Cindy Sutton said, “98 percent of the community pays for their health insurance and the teachers want free health insurance? I'd like to know where they think they should be able to get that."

That's a question that's not true according to union leaders. They say they don't want "free" healthcare. “The members here do pay towards their healthcare. They have co-pays on physician visits, on prescriptions, hospitals. They have deductibles," said Holland.

The big question is, how long will the strike last? The exact number of days allowed by state law is still being calculated, although many say it could be long. The teachers say they'll evaluate the strike on a "day to day" basis.

Lake-Lehman Superintendent James McGovern said, “There are no negotiations scheduled at this time, but as soon as anything transpires, we'll communicate with the public immediately."

Despite the strike, the school board will allow extra-curricular activities including sports and band to continue. The last Lake-Lehman teachers' strike in the spring lasted only four days, but this one may last much longer.