By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

LANGHORNE, Pa. – And now an update from America’s favorite dysfunctional school district.

On Tuesday, a county judge ruled that the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers and Neshaminy school officials must hold 10 contract negotiation sessions between now and the end of September, reports PhillyBurbs.com.

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The two sides have been trying to hammer out a new teachers’ contract since the previous presidential election in 2008. No surprise, the sticking point is over money.

NFT members are among the highest-paid educators in Pennsylvania, and they receive free health insurance, $27,000 retirement bonuses and many other perks. Regardless, the union is demanding retroactive pay for the four years they’ve been negotiating a new deal, an expense officials say the district simply cannot afford.

NFT President Louise Boyd has said publicly, “The millions of dollars that have flown into the board’s coffers – an unprecedented windfall – belongs (sic) to the employees who earned it through five years of their labors (and) must now be repaid.”

NFT officials are pushing for “around-the-clock negotiations,” according to the Levittown Patch. That, of course, is a time-honored strategy designed to wear down an opponent’s defenses. (We wouldn’t be surprised if the NFT proposed waterboarding as part of future talks.)

No wonder school board President Ritchie Webb has described the atmosphere surrounding the contract talks as “toxic.” Board members have even proposed videotaping negotiations so taxpayers can witness the union’s boorish behavior for themselves, according to the PhillyBurbs.com.

While we support the concept of open contract talks, residents already have plenty of proof that the union is bad news. The NFT gained national notoriety earlier this year when members waged their second teachers’ strike of the 2011-12 school year. NFT members have reportedly engaged in several work-to-rule protests over the years, as well.

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Since Pennsylvania school boards lack the power to impose contracts or stop teacher strikes, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if we’re still talking about Neshaminy’s contract impasse until the next presidential election in 2016.