Tensions mount over teachers’ contract in Blue Mountain Union School District

A view of Wells River. Photo courtesy of Ascended Dreamer/Wikimedia CommonsNegotiations over teachers’ salaries in the Blue Mountain Union School District have reached a rare inflection point while teachers start the school year without a contract.According to school board members, the lengthy negotiations are the result of Vermont’s sweeping new education reform law, which puts districts under intense pressure to cut costs and ratchets up penalties on taxpayers if they don’t.