Caren Bourque goes door-to-door on Dearborn Drive in Riverside, passing out fliers on behalf of East Providence teachers yesterday morning.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

EAST PROVIDENCE — Kathleen Caffrey has taught fourth grade at Myron J. Francis Elementary School for 22 years and has been a teacher for 36 years.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Caffrey said yesterday morning as she gathered with about a third of the 500 members in the district’s teachers union at the Santa Maria Club on Broadway.

In a fight with the district over pay and health-care costs, the teachers decided to take their message directly to taxpayers.

Yesterday starting at 9 a.m., they came to the club and picked up a total of 20,000 fliers and maps of different neighborhoods in the city. They broke into small groups and left with instructions to place the fliers in doors, not mailboxes.

Last month, the East Providence School Committee cut teacher wages by 5 percent and forced teachers to pay 20 percent of their health-care costs. The reductions went into effect with the teachers’ Jan. 16 paychecks. The committee says the reductions will save the cash-strapped district $3 million. Without it, the district will operate in the red, which breaks state law.

“I live in Rumford and I had kids in the school system so I see it both ways,” Caffrey said. “But I want to see us treated fairly.”

As teachers prepared to go door-to-door to an estimated 13,000 houses, 7,000 apartments and 1,600 businesses, Valarie Lawson, president of the East Providence Education Association, told a reporter, “We want to blanket every neighborhood today. Here’s an opportunity for us to share our message in a personal way.”

The leaflets lay out the teachers’ point of view, saying it is not their fault the district has been in financial disarray, and that teachers have made concessions. About $1 million could be saved, say the teachers, if the School Department and city were willing to consolidate some services. The fliers say the City Council did not raise enough money to operate the school district, prompting the crisis, and questioned why teachers are the only city employees forced to pay 20 percent of their health-care premiums.

Karen Scarborough, a physical therapist, and Caren Bourque and Heidi Correiro, both occupational therapists, climbed into a silver sport-utility vehicle with their batch of 318 fliers and a map of Riverside. The three friends were hired eight years ago.

“I just feel like with the economy the way it is, we all have to work together,” said Correiro, 32, an East Providence native who now lives in Tiverton. “The city feels so divided. I think the biggest misconception is that we haven’t been cooperative.”

The teacher contract expired Oct. 31. When the teachers union and School Committee were unable to reach an agreement last fall, the matter went to arbitration.

Teachers agreed to a nonbinding arbitrator’s decision that would have — for the first time — required East Providence teachers to pay a portion of their health-care premiums — 15 percent phased in over three years. The arbitrator’s award would have frozen salaries for this year and given raises of 2 percent and 3 percent in the second and third years of the contract, respectively.

The School Committee rejected the arbitrator’s decision last month, saying the concessions would not save the district enough money. “It’s real simple,” said committee Chairman Anthony Carcieri at the time. “In no way, shape or form can we afford [the arbitrator’s award]. This is not a choice. It’s a necessity. We have no money.”

The School Committee’s decision to unilaterally cut wages and enforce health-insurance premium sharing now is before the state Labor Relations Board.

“We are willing to do our part and we certainly acknowledge it is a financial crisis for everyone these days,” Scarborough, 43, of Smithfield, said as she placed a flier inside a screen door. “We have shown we are willing to work with them. We are not asking for the ‘gravy train,’ as I think someone called it. But it’s not right for them to make a unilateral decision and expect the teachers alone to finance 10 years worth of fiscal mismanagement.”

Few residents were outside in the chill yesterday morning as teachers went door-to-door on Colony Road.

One man was getting out of his truck in his driveway with his two young sons when Scarborough approached him with a flier.

“I’m a big supporter of teachers,” Ed Silva said as he glanced down at the leaflet. “My son Colin is going to start kindergarten in the fall at Waddington.”

“We appreciate the support,” Scarborough told him.

“I think teachers are as important as firefighters and police, so why should they be treated differently,” Silva said as the teachers continued their canvassing. “I never complain about paying extra money for teachers. It’s money well spent, in my opinion. I think there is more wasteful spending in other areas.”

Both the Rhode Island Superior and Supreme Courts have declined to intervene in the salary and benefit cuts, leaving the question before the Labor Relations Board, which will consider the matter next month.

Union officials say they hope by generating public support, the School Committee will be willing to return to the negotiating table.

“The teachers have cooperated in the past and are willing to cooperate again in trying to solve the budget crisis,” said Karen Jenkins, communications director for the National Education Association’s Rhode Island chapter. “But the School Committee is obligated to bargain with the teachers and they never fully engaged in that process. We want to return to real give-and-take bargaining.”

jjordan@projo.com