In South Jersey, contracts remain unresolved in 28 districts in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties. In seven of those, tentative agreements have been reached but not ratified.
And the situations in seven districts are carryovers from the 2009-10 school year. There are 104 school districts in the three counties.
New Jersey teachers are barred by law from striking. If an agreement cannot be reached, the two sides enter a mandatory fact-finding process in which nonbinding recommendations are made by the fact-finder. The process can go on for months.
In 20 districts in Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties where teacher contracts expired this summer or will at the start of the school year, there are no settlements. There are tentative agreements in four - Coatesville, Owen J. Roberts, Upper Darby, and Wallingford-Swarthmore - but they have not yet been ratified.
In Hatboro-Horsham and Methacton, labor agreements that expired in 2009 are still unresolved, and in Neshaminy, the contract expired in 2008 and has not yet been replaced. There are 63 districts in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania suburbs.
In some districts - including Pennsbury, Pennridge, and Unionville-Chadds Ford - discussions are particularly difficult, PSEA spokesman Robert Broderick said.
Wages, medical-premium payments, and the length of the school day and year are the main issues in most districts, he said.
The 512-member Pennridge Education Association voted Wednesday to authorize its leadership to call a strike if necessary. The two sides are said to be far apart.
