CLAYMONT – Public school educators took to the picket lines today – just two weeks before Christmas and Hanukkah – to protest the Brandywine School Board’s unwillingness to reach a fair labor deal after six months of good-faith negotiations.
More than 1,000 teachers and specialists in the Brandywine School District have been working under an expired contract since June.
Their last 3-year contract was extended in 2023 – a year before public school educators were asked to deliver a successful referendum that was supposed to help the district recruit and retain educators.
“While we delivered on our end, the Brandywine School District has so far put forward proposals that would either degrade our working conditions or cause our salaries to slip further behind our neighboring districts,” said Steve Rulon, president of the Brandywine Education Association (BEA), whose membership includes 9 out every 10 teachers and specialists working in the district.
“Our members are fighting to keep both our working conditions and our salaries competitive – not one or the other,” said Rulon, a chemistry teacher at Brandywine High School for 21 years. “And we are holding firm on the position that we will not accept a proposal that asks all of us to give up rights related to our working conditions in exchange for a pay increase that would benefit a few. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions, and they are not for sale.”
BEA is one of more than 40 local unions that make up the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA), the largest labor union in Delaware representing nearly 14,000 public school educators throughout the First State.
DSEA President Stephanie Ingram on Tuesday said the statewide union stands in solidarity with local teachers and specialists in the Brandywine School District who are fighting to deliver the best for our students, our schools and our communities.
“The members of BEA have shown tremendous patience throughout this protracted negotiation process,” she said. “We urge the Brandywine School Board to act in good faith by moving toward an agreement that respects the commitment and dedication of their teachers and specialists before these negotiations enter yet another calendar year.”
BEA members say they will continue picketing and engaging in other collective action until the District offers a fair proposal that does not force them to choose between previously bargained working conditions and future pay increases.
Picketing is a legally permissible action allowable under Delaware law, which expressly forbids public school employees from going on strike. BEA members will join picket lines before or after providing a full day of instruction to their students or use the personal days guaranteed to them by state law.
“I am shocked and saddened to be in this position,” Jeannette Wilt, a computer and math teacher in the Brandywine School District for more than 20 years, posted on social media over the weekend. “Our teachers are the heart of our community, and it’s time for a contract that honors their commitment and the vital work they do for our children. Join us in standing up for what’s right!”
