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Teachers' salaries to top $70,000
by Dan Bialek
After
several weeks and four bargaining sessions, the Manhattan Beach Unified School
District has reached a tentative agreement with the Manhattan Beach Unified
Teachers Association.
Friday's meeting at district headquarters ran late into the evening, and a blackout was called until the two parties could reconvene on Monday, when the settlement was reached.
The parties agreed on a two-year contract. For the 2000-2001 school year, teachers' salaries will be increased 8.9 percent across the board. Other increases will include bonuses at the 15th year of a teacher's service, and every five years thereafter.
District Superintendent Jerry Davis said that he was quite pleased with the terms and has pledged to strongly recommend them to the school board for final approval. Linda Fredricks, president of the teachers association, also said she was happy with the settlement.
"We think it's a fair settlement. It's not everything that we wanted, but when you are dealing with negotiations, you have to be able to compromise," she said.
School board members will vote on the agreement later this week.
The contract would put the district's starting salaries at $38,837, with a top salary over $72,000. Davis said that this would ensure that the district attracts and retains the best teachers.
Next
year teachers will work an extra day, spending 183 days on campus instead of
182 in exchange for a pay increase of an additional 0.5 percent. The following
year, the district will have the option to increase the work year by another
day, giving teachers another 0.5 percent raise, among other benefits.
The teachers' association originally asked for a 15 percent raise, which the school district said it was unable to pay. ER