Let Citizens See Proposed Teachers' Contract

Excerpts from an excellent editorial from the Courier Post. Read the full editorial at the Courier Post :
On July 30, the Cherry Hill school board and the union that represents Cherry Hill teachers finalized a tentative agreement on a new contract.
A joint statement by school board president Seth Klukoff and Cherry Hill Education Association President Martin Sharofsky says that when all the fine points and specifics of the agreement are finalized, "Those details will be released to the public after both parties have ratified the agreement."
After the contract has been ratified it will be available to the public, the taxpayers who will foot the bill?
After?
That's unacceptable.
The taxpaying public ought to be able to examine and weigh in on the details of this contract -- of any government labor contract with public workers -- before said contract is ratified and signed.
That means the school district should post an electronic version of the contract online well before any ratification vote -- which could come Aug. 24 or at a special meeting a week later. That would give residents a chance, if they want, to take a look and contact the board about any issues or concerns they may have. . . .
The citizens who pay public workers' salary have every right to know, before a contract is signed, what's in it. How much will the annual pay raises be? How much of a contribution toward health care costs from teachers will there be? What changes, if any, to traditional benefits and perks will there be? What kind of supplemental compensation will there be for educators who work extra hours? How will the contract work to live by the 2 percent cap on property tax hikes the state just instituted?
The people of Cherry Hill should certainly be privy to these details before a contract that calls for spending tens of millions of their tax dollars is ratified.
School districts -- Cherry Hill and all others -- should post agreed upon labor contracts online and make hard copies available at the board office and town hall days or weeks before any ratification vote occurs. . . .
If you pay the bill for something, you have a right to know what you're buying and all the terms of the purchase.