Lawrence, NY - Teachers Contract Approved

Lawrence, NY - A new teacher's contract approved became the latest skirmish in a bitter struggle over control of the Lawrence school board, which will soon be led by an Orthodox Jewish majority that has been sharply critical of district spending.

With just two weeks before the new majority takes over, many of them from the Orthodox community, landed in court yesterday as three sitting board members unsuccessfully sought a court order to block the vote on the teachers' contract. Instead, hours after Nassau Supreme Court Justice Zelda Jonas rejected the injunction, the board voted 4-2 to approve the deal. After the vote, the audience of about 300 in the middle school auditorium exploded in a standing ovation that lasted more than a minute.

Under the new deal, teachers will get a lump sum raise of $2,000 next year and increases of between 2 percent and 3 percent for the following four years. The contract also calls for class-size limits.

The three board members who sought the court order were Asher Mansdorf, Murray Forman and David Sussman. Forman and Mansdorf will, along with two new members to be sworn in on July 5, comprise the new Orthodox majority on the panel.

Stephen Clement, the outgoing teachers union president, said he was pleased with the new contract but concerned about the tensions on the board. "It certainly doesn't bode well," Clement said.

Sussman was booed when he spoke against the contract. "We have a lot of problems in the district and this contract leaves us in the lurch," he said. "We have not adequately discussed how we are going to pay for it."