In his public report on the cause of the labor dispute between the Middletown Board of Education and Township Education Association, special mediator Ronald J. Riccio urges all residents to look anew at their wounded school district and to make a commitment to recognize "the importance, worthiness and dignity of education and educators," including all who contribute to the welfare of township students. Without such a commitment, he cautions, "the current destructive culture will do serious harm."

Riccio’s report is a wake-up call to all to stop the name calling and start the healing process.

It’s a message all those who value their community should heed.

In his report, Riccio issues a strong rebuke of the leadership of both the union and the board and their win-at-any-cost mentality.

It also is a strong rebuke of township residents and leaders who fail to understand the critical importance of the township education system or the "real world" of the conscientious teacher.

"It is as if the leaders are combatants in a popular spectator sport," who seem to be blinded by the notion of winning, he says.

As an example, he points to a 0.1 percent difference at one point during the negotiation process in salary increase proposals from the two sides. The board proposed a 3.9 percent increase and the union, a 4.0 percent one. "The difference between those two proposals is miniscule, yet the parties, to my amazement, could not come to any agreement on their own," Riccio says, noting that the difference of $2.85 per paycheck before taxes is not enough to even go to the moA wake-up call for Middletownvies.

He recommends a 4-percent increase for the current school year, rising to 4.6 percent in the fourth year of his recommended increases.

He also recommends a gradual increase in the health insurance premium contribution, terming the contribution both an economic and "symbolic" win for the board, since most New Jersey teachers contribute nothing for the same benefit.

The health insurance copayments have been a major issue in the labor dispute since the Back to Basics board imposed a contract in 1998 mandating the first-ever health insurance contributions.

While some residents have argued that teachers should join the "real world" by sharing their health-insurance costs with their employer, Riccio believes teachers "live in the real world" as much as anyone else and are deserving of the compensation they receive.

While Riccio criticizes the board and union leaders for failing to provide effective leadership, especially during such extraordinary times, with the township "at the epicenter of the World Trade Center after-shocks," he does not mean to disparage them, he says, or imply that they are anything less than good and decent people.

The district is also seriously underfunded, according to Riccio, which can be attributed to a failure on residents’ part to understand its needs and a failure on the part of the Township Committee to also recognize those needs when it comes to trimming defeated budgets.

Everyone may not agree with Riccio’s recommendations or his findings. But everyone who reads his report will come away with the sense that he dug deeply and was deeply offended with what he found.

He obviously places a high value on the worth of education. And while he is critical, he is at all times respectful toward the district and the community.

The report should serve as a blueprint for all future negotiations and as must reading for future boards and union leaders.