Brandywine teachers hit the picket lines ahead of holidays due to expired contracts

WILMINGTON – An expired contract situation in Brandywine School District has tainted the holiday spirit of teachers, as they began to picket the district Tuesday in the first local educators’ union picketing in well over a decade.

“I am shocked and saddened to be in this position,” said Jeannette Wilt, a computer and math teacher in the Brandywine School District for more than 20 years, on Facebook Friday. 

Brandywine’s contracts

More than a thousand teachers and specialists in Brandywine have been working under an expired contract since June.

The last three-year contract was extended in 2023, a year before a successful referendum that was intended to help the district recruit and retain educators.

Wilt said in her online post that the Brandywine Education Association is fighting for a contract that ensures teachers have the resources, support, and respect they deserve.

Specifically, she’s advocating for:

• Better pay: “Our educators work hard every day, and they deserve a salary that reflects their dedication and expertise.”
• Improved working conditions: “Teachers need safe, supportive environments to do their best work for students.”
• A stronger education for students: “When teachers are supported, students thrive. A fair contract ensures our schools are the best they can be.”

Teachers are the heart of the Brandywine community, she said in her social media post, and it’s time for a contract that honors their commitment and the vital work they do for the district’s children. 

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“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 90% of teachers and specialists working in the district.

The Brandywine union is one of more than 40 local unions that make up the Delaware State Education Association, the largest labor union in Delaware representing nearly 14,000 public school educators.

“Our members are fighting to keep both our working conditions and our salaries competitive – not one or the other,” Rulon said.

Rulon, a chemistry teacher at Brandywine High School for 21 years, said educators are holding firm on the position that they will not accept a proposal that asks all of them to give up rights related to 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,” he said.

BEA members previously wore matching t-shirts to school and gathered in solidarity before and after the school day and entered their buildings as a group. 

They most recently wore the matching t-shirts to a school board meeting.

“I think it is unfortunate BEA has chosen this route,” said Ralph Ackerman, president of the Brandywine School District Board of Education. “Without breaking any rules on negotiations, I can say as a district we have strived to be the top pay and benefit comprehensive district school district in New Castle County.”

At one of the last meetings with BEA, Ackerman pointed out that the district offered multiple proposals, including one that did not involve any changes to working conditions. 

“All the district’s financial proposals would ensure that Brandywine’s teachers will maintain their position as the highest paid educators among the five comprehensive New Castle County school districts,” he said, which includes metrics like average salary across all degree categories, medical benefits, supplemental benefits (vision/dental/life), EPER (Extra Pay for Extra Responsibilities) hourly rate which is tied for the highest in the county, and tuition reimbursement.

Picketing will resume Tuesday afternoon after the school day. 

BEA members will continue picketing and engaging in other collective action until the district offers a fair proposal that does 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.

“Details of what exactly is being negotiated will be kept at the bargaining table,” said Scott Goss, director of public relations and communication for the DSEA. “It’s important to understand that teachers and specialists aren’t paid a set salary figure. Their pay is determined by a detailed rubric that factors in their tenure, their educational attainment, their district role and other considerations.”

The result, he said, is a large spreadsheet or matrix and comparing pay across districts involves looking at all the cells and the factors used to gauge how educators move through them.

“We appreciate and value the hard work of our teachers,” Ackerman said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to recruit and retain educators, and to resolving this matter amicably in a way that reflects our dedication to our staff, students, families, and the Brandywine community.”