Wausau School Board, teachers OK contract

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080129/WDH0101/801290619/1981

Board, teachers OK contract

By Charles Menchaca
Wausau Daily Herald
[e-mail]

The Wausau School Board ratified a two-year contract Monday for teachers, thus ending a series of protests and proposals that began nearly nine months ago.

District officials and teachers have agreed to a 1 percent increase in salary for the first year of a two-year contract that expires June 30, 2009, and to a 2 percent increase for the second year.

The teachers union membership approved the contract Sunday night. Wausau Education Association president Mary Jarvis on Monday would not reveal the specific vote numbers.

To account for the school year already past, teachers will receive a 2 percent increase for the remainder of this contract year, beginning with their next paycheck in February.

The teachers union agreed to a lower salary increase after the district agreed to provide its 700 teachers the same level of benefits they had received during their 2005-2007 contract, said Jeff Gress, the district's human resources director.

Teachers protested the lack of a new contract in October by withdrawing from activities not specified in their contract.

Union representatives have previously said that teachers would resume extracurricular activities as soon as a new contract was approved. Jarvis declined to comment Monday about whether teachers now would resume those activities.

Prior to approving the contract, union members heavily debated its terms for three hours on Sunday, Jarvis said.

Both sides gave more than they intended to reach the compromise, School Board president Pat Keefe said.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Wow one whole percent

A beginning teacher who earns around $30K would get a raise of $300.

How generous of this school board!! :sarcasm:

Now how much of that $300 will go right back into this teacher's classroom for supplies the district doesn't buy? :crazy:

[LWolf]

2. Interesting that when teachers withdraw from

activities not specified in their contract, it affects the district enough to cough up a "big" concession: maintaining benefits and a whopping one percent.

If everything that teachers did were part of the contract, many more teachers would have to be hired to fit all of that stuff into a contractual day, costing districts quite a bit more. As it is, when those activities are paid any kind of stipend, it's never at the same rate of pay contracted days are.

The general public, those who are always ready to jump in with sarcastic remarks about abundant vacation, and short working hours, have no idea how much of a teacher's time and life is actually invested in the job, and how low the pay is, if you were to calculate it by the hour.

I'm glad these teachers got to hold on to their benefits. I worked for a district that restricted cost of living increases for TWELVE YEARS with the threat of loss of benefits. Every time the contract came due, teachers voted to give up an increase to keep benefits from being cut.

In my current district, teachers agreed to take a CUT in pay to maintain PE and music teachers, rather than see them cut out of the budget (which had already been done in that previous district.)