A year and a half of hard work at the bargaining table has paid off for more than 3,000 Sacramento teachers and other school employees.
Eighty-four percent of voting members of the Sacramento City Teachers Association have approved a new two-year contract that protects health benefits, maintains step and column increases in salaries, and avoids take-backs proposed by the school board. At press time, the contract was waiting for school board ratification.
"The settlement protects our members' benefits, maintains the principle of additional pay for additional work, and commits the district to collaboration on future changes in the instructional day," says SCTA President Marcie Launey.
Extra pay for extra work was a sticking point in the negotiations. Teachers have agreed to provide 15 additional minutes of instruction a day for high school students. In return, they will be paid proportionately. The contract also allows teachers to vote on changes in scheduling and planning time at their sites.
The settlement contains none of the take-backs that the school board had proposed - a freeze on salary increases, caps on health benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs for health care.
The 2002-04 agreement provides salary incentives to senior teachers who announce their intention to retire, and continues - at SCTA's insistence - a successful Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program.
Len Feldman