Approximately 550 teachers from the Levittown School District gathered last Wednesday about an hour before the regular school board meeting to demonstrate their desire for new contracts. Under the leadership of their president Martha Martin, teachers marched around the Levittown Memorial Education Center wearing signs with various statements such as "Levittown United Teachers - Contract Now" and "Levittown Teachers Deserve a Contract" and donning pins which read "Proud to Be a Teacher."

According to Martin, the Levittown School District and its teachers have been in negotiations for new contracts since spring of 2000. Currently in mediation, representatives from both groups held their third meeting this past Wednesday and are hoping to reach an agreement in the very near future. The district and teachers are hopeful to settle the matter soon, as the mediation method helped them settle the matter the last time teachers had to renew their contracts.

Just before the 8 p.m. meeting, teachers gathered inside the building, filled the board room and crowded in the hallways. Approximately 550 teachers of the 625-650 educators from the district attended the rally. "We feel that the administration's demands are unprofessional and demeaning to a professional staff," Martin said at the rally. She added that negotiations started in February, and she heard nothing until she attended an April school board meeting. "We really would like them to move," she said.

"In Levittown, the history of labor relations between the board and teachers has not always been a positive one," Martin said at the meeting. "In 1997, when our contract expired, the Levittown teachers worked for more than a year and a half without a new contract. And then we received a wage freeze for a half year and an extended day of 18 minutes, giving us one of the longest working days in Nassau County.

"And now in 2001, we are once again working with an expired contract because the board's expectations of the Levittown teachers are unfair. The proposals put forth by the board suggest that our productivity is insufficient and that our dedication is in question. These negative proposals are an insult to the hard working professional teachers of Levittown who fill this room and spill out into the halls tonight," she said.

Martin noted some statistics, saying that they show the dedication and devotion of Levittown's teachers. She said that teachers at Division Avenue and MacArthur High Schools have the longest teaching periods in Nassau County - 47 minutes.

"Whether it be an eight or nine period day, no one in any of the 41 districts with high schools teaches as long per period," she said.

Martin further noted that on the secondary level, special education and special area teachers, as well as science teachers in Levittown, often teach six classes instead of the usual five which is unheard of in other districts without compensation. Martin also explained that elementary teachers in the district have less prep time than 67 percent of the districts in Nassau County and a shorter lunch period than 73 percent. "Of the 40 minutes they do have, they often spend up to 10 minutes of it escorting their children to and from lunch," she said.

" Despite these undue burdens placed on Levittown teachers, our test results are consistently above the Nassau County average and we continue to create a healthy and positive environment for our students," she said. "Success for every student is not just a motto; it is a goal that is being reached."

Martin also noted that due to the new state demands, teachers in various subjects are working harder and longer hours to help their students reach new goals. She said that many teachers spend countless pressurized hours undergoing tasks such as grading, researching and attending workshops and are not compensated for those efforts. In addition, Martin said that while students and teachers began the school year on the same day this year, throughout the district classrooms were decorated and prepared days before school began because teachers came in on their own time during the summer.

"[These are just] a few of the seemingly small details which represent the ongoing dedication of our teachers and which the board and administration simply take for granted," she said.

"The Levittown residents, this board and administration are blessed with one of the finest teaching staffs in New York State. For once and for all, the time has come for this board and administration to stop its unfair treatment of Levittown's teachers and teacher assistants. Re-examine your priorities, put aside personal crusades and recognize the extraordinary dedication and professionalism of your teachers. Show your leadership and treat us as the valuable educators we are. It is time for you to change the course of Levittown's labor history and do the right thing. Let us work together to create a contract of which we all can be proud."

Gerald R. Claps, assistant superintendent for administration for the district, said that the district has been moving ahead. "We had a number of negotiation sessions and we're now involved in mediation. Both the school district and the Levittown United Teachers agreed on an individual who serves as a mediator," he explained. Claps noted that in addition to the meetings that have already taken place, more are planned for December. "We're meeting, we are communicating, which is very important," he said. "Martha has her views and is doing her part as far as the union is concerned, but we feel that we're also doing the same thing on our part. We are communicating, we're talking; and it helps sometimes to have a mediator."

Claps added that the mediator works between both parties, speaking to members of the district and then to members of the union, which is how the issue was resolved last time. Claps further explained that the chief negotiator for the school district is John Heidelberger, the district's attorney.

"The key ingredient is communication," Claps added. "The communication is still there between the parties and that's what is most important."