The action means school will not start Tuesday as scheduled. Teachers will start picketing at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at all Harlem schools, Nieves said.
School District leaders will conduct a news conference at 2:30 p.m. today at the Harlem Administration Center, 8605 N. Second St., to discuss plans for the strike.
Neither Superintendent Pat DeLuca or Anthony Rosilez, Harlem's human resources director and chief negotiator, could not be reached for comment this morning.
"There is one major hurdle and that is the salary and the salary structure," said Nieves, who informed the administration at 11 a.m. today. "We have some other issues that we are not that far apart on, but we have to settle salary and salary structure first."
DeLuca had said the administration wanted to continue eleventh-hour negotiations today and early Tuesday to settle the teacher's contract, but contract talks will not resume until Tuesday at the earliest. A federal mediator is attempting to arrange a bargaining session for Wednesday or Thursday, Nieves said.
Union leaders say that Harlem's starting teacher pay of $31,900 a year has caused the School District to bleed young teachers, who are leaving for better-paying jobs elsewhere. Average pay for teachers in the Harlem School District is $52,864 a year, about $4,000 less than the state average, according to the state Board of Education.
Harlem teachers also receive insurance and retirement benefits.
A contract agreement on the support staff contract, which covers all noncertified Harlem employees, has been reached. DeLuca said those employees probably will be locked out in the case of a teachers strike, but said they would not lose pay.
On Sunday night, administration finalized preparations with department heads and principals for a strike. Shane Turner, the School District's athletic director, has said sports practices will continue with volunteers coaching the athletes, but no games can be played if teachers are on strike.
In the wake of the news, Harlem Community Center announced it will hold additional programming during the duration of the work stoppage. Parents can drop their children off at the youth center, 900 Roosevelt Road, anytime from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays for $20 a day.
The last time a strike idled Harlem students was 2004, when teachers walked the picket line for nine days. The district locked out support staff during that impasse, and Harlem's varsity football team forfeited its season opener. The strike ended when teachers and district officials agreed to let an arbitrator settle unresolved contract terms.
(rrstar.com)