On June 8 after 14 months of difficult contract negotiations, the Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association (F-SUTA) reached a tentative agreement with the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District that will make salaries more competitive with those offered in other Solano County districts.
The agreement includes a 5 percent across-the-board salary increase that’s retroactive to July 1, 2007, says Melanie Driver, president of the 1,200-member F-SUTA.
“This was a very, very hard-fought battle to get what we got. By making our salaries more competitive with what other Solano County districts are paying, Fairfield will be able to recruit and retain more teachers. That will benefit students and the entire community.”
If approved by members of the teachers union, the new F-SUTA contract means top teacher pay in the 22,000-student district will now rise to $79,008, while starting pay will be $46,710.
Driver notes teachers in Vacaville recently got a raise of 4.5 percent, and Fairfield teachers’ salaries are falling behind those of nearby districts.
Negotiations had been rocky and both sides declared impasse in February.
At press time, teachers were planning to hold a general membership meeting June 19 to discuss the tentative agreement, and then vote on it June 20-23.
Mike Myslinski
