BY MARK SKERTIC
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Inability to agree on pay and some working conditions caused contract talks between the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers and school administrators to break off Monday night.

Negotiators said they might return to the bargaining table Wednesday, though union leadership said that was not definite.

Both sides said they began the day believing a deal was only a few hours away, after productive meetings last week.

But negotiations deteriorated throughout the day. Talks recessed so Cincinnati Public Schools' negotiators could update school board members during a closed-door session. Both sides returned to the table at 9 p.m. for about an hour.

Union President Tom Mooney refused to detail what proved to be insurmountable problems Monday, saying only, ''We've had some pretty unexpected developments. We may have more to say tomorrow.''

Mark Stepaniak, the school board's lead negotiator, said some disagreement has been caused by the budget projections Gov. George Voinovich released last week. The spending plan he gave lawmakers has CPS receiving only a 3 percent increase in state aid over the next two years.

The district had been planning on about 3 percent annually.

The board has to consider the possibility of having less money than anticipated, Mr. Stepaniak said. ''It didn't help,'' he said of the projections. ''But it's a fact of life.''

When the sides are able to agree, the contracts will still be subject to acceptance by the school board and ratification by union members.

Monday's meetings were the first since Thursday. Over the weekend, school and union officials calculated cost estimates of the proposed pay raises.