Barrack Hebrew Academy High School Teachers Strike in Bryn Mawr
BRYN MAWR, PA – The teachers at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy went on strike Monday, after reaching an impasse with the schools’ management. Teachers set up picket lines in front of the campus here early in the morning, attracting tremendous support from students, alumni, parents and passers-by. Check out the Facebook page in support of the strike: Strike Strike Strike!
“We have made this decision with heavy hearts, but we are resolute that fairness and decency require it,” the Jack Barrack Teachers Association, Local 3505, said in a letter to parents. “We are not demanding more, we are only seeking to keep what we have now.”
The 55-member faculty agreed to a one-year contract extension at the start of the 2008-09 school year to facilitate a smooth transition for the new head of school. With the contract extension set to expire on Aug. 31, 2009, the Teachers Association agreed to extend the contract a second time so that Barrack’s students could begin the year on time and without distractions.
“We had hoped that with a little more time the school would make a fair offer,” Teachers Association co-presidents Rabbi Michael Yondorf and Rony Cohen said.
Instead, management gutted teachers’ pensions by a significant amount. It did not offer to increase salaries in the first year of the contract, provided minimal pay raises in the next two years and would require the faculty, which already shoulders 30 percent of the cost of their families’ medical insurance, to absorb rising healthcare costs for three years.
“We are not asking for anything new,” Rabbi Yondorf said. “But we cannot accept a contract that leaves us and our families in a more precarious financial position every year.”
At a time when most private schools in the area have seen enrollment decline significantly, Barrack Hebrew Academy, which serves students in grades six through 12, has increased its enrollment. In addition, during the 2008-09 school year faculty members volunteered to work with the administration to introduce a new schedule, trimesters, electives, art and other new courses with no increased expense to the school. This resulted in fewer sections, larger class sizes and the loss of seven faculty positions.
"We have assumed these new responsibilities with the same professionalism and commitment that we have always brought to our work and to our students," said the Teachers Association in their letter.
“The schools’ success demonstrates that the Barrack Hebrew Academy faculty provides an excellent education for its students and maintains lively and caring relationships that span academics, sports and diverse extracurricular activities,” Cohen said. “The Faculty Association has been a critical component in maintaining the level of success and professionalism that Barrack Hebrew Academy has achieved.”
In the faculty union’s letter to parents, they said: “In the past, we have worked with the administration and board to create the kind of workplace environment that attracts and retains excellent teachers. We wish to be treated with respect, and to be recognized as the integral part of the school that we are. We have a beautiful new facility and an innovative new program. But without us, the facility is just bricks, and the program is just words. Our teaching brings these to life.”
The school, which is ranked consistently among the top private schools in Greater Philadelphia, is located at 272 S. Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA.
All of MMPs Feeds