In a contract victory that's a tribute to their solidarity, Fresno teachers' new three-year agreement makes substantial salary strides and sends a message to lower-paying school districts in the area.
"The message this sends is that the other districts must now raise the salary bar if they're going to retain teachers who will now look at Fresno's salaries as more attractive," says Larry Moore, president of the 4,400-member Fresno Teachers Association (FTA).
"We think this is a great settlement."
Moore says the contract victory is significant because it came without a major FTA confrontation with the Fresno Unified School District, unlike in recent years.
And it means that the district is now setting the pace in salaries, benefits and contractual provisions in the San Joaquin Valley.
As a result of the contract, top pay in the district - the state's fourth largest with 80,000 students - will now be $58,314 this year, a healthy increase of 20 percent in the past three years, Moore says.
The starting salary for a fully credentialed beginning teacher will rise to $32,000.
The new contract provides a 5 percent salary increase in the first year, retroactive to July 1, 1999. Salary increases in the next two years will be the effective cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) the district receives from the state.
In addition, Fresno teachers won better health benefits and negotiated a new peer assistance and review (PAR) program that fully protects the due process rights of permanent teachers.
"This contract is a testament to the solidarity and resolve of our bargaining team and of our members," Moore says.
"The district looked at our determination and decided it did not want to fight."
For family coverage, the teachers' health insurance deductible is reduced from $300 to $200, and from $150 to $100 for single employees.
The new PAR program means evaluations will be based on the California Standards of the Teaching Profession instead of various expectancy-based evaluations. The program is partly based on model PAR language used in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District.
Fresno teachers overwhelmingly ratified the new contract in April.
Moore praised the skill and tenacity of the teachers on the FTA bargaining team. The team had the full backing of district teachers as contract talks wore on for seven months, he says.
"In the final analysis, it's the teachers, librarians and nurses who make the difference," Moore wrote in a letter to all FTA members.
"Because of your support and the dedication of your team, we now have an agreement where our bargaining unit members will receive a fair share of the budget pie."
Mike Myslinski
