Peninsula teachers receive raises, creating calm in the McCleary storm

Peninsula School District teachers will get raises in the 2018-19 school year after the Peninsula School District and Peninsula Education Association came to an agreement the day before the school year started.

“This whole (negotiation) has been on the table for months, but I think it compliments teachers and staff,” Peninsula School District Interim-Superintendent Art Jarvis said. “And I am proud to say we were one of the first districts in Pierce County to come to an agreement.”

The teachers union voted 89 percent to move forward with the newly created salary schedule presented by the district. The union presented an agreement to the Peninsula School District Board of Trustees during a special board meeting on Aug. 28, the day before school was set to begin.

The proposal included:

▪ A two-year bargain agreement with increased salaries for teachers across the board, including a new salary schedule that extended beyond the 16-year cap.

▪ An added two extra work days for the 2019-20 school year, funded by the state.

▪ Updated class sizes that closely follow state requirements.

▪ Added language that provides overload pay if a teacher’s class size exceeds the outlined maximum.

The board discussed the agreement for 45 minutes in a closed meeting before unanimously voting to approve the proposal.

Peninsula School District Chief Financial Officer Karen Andersen and Peninsula Education Association President Carol Rivera have discussed pay negotiations for teachers since April.

The biggest challenge after the McCleary Act was passed by the state Legislature was the removal of the state’s teacher salary schedule, leaving districts across Washington to create their own. McCleary refers to a 2012 Washington Supreme Court Decision where the court ordered the state to fully fund K-12 public schools as required by Article IX of the state constitution.

“This bargain was a little bit different because of the McCleary funding that was added. Not only did we have to talk about contract language, we had to create a whole new salary schedule,” Andersen said. “And every district is receiving regionalization money, which there was no real rhyme or reason for how it was given. But it’s not all new money, it’s replacing what we are going to lose in our levies.”

The new district-specific salary schedule is similar in many ways to the state’s schedule, with an extension for senior staff. In the 2017-18 schedule, a teacher who reached 16 years experience was not eligible for any future raises despite his or her level of education.

The new pay schedule goes beyond the 16-year cap and offers senior staff and teachers raises once they hit their 20-, 25- and 30-year marks.

Rivera said the senior staff she represents has stuck with the district through many “lean” years and has even seen a backwards step in pay. Jarvis said this is the year to help support more experienced teachers.

“That’s the beautiful thing about having a very senior staff and a well-distributed staff,” Jarvis said. “But when it comes down to start deciding beginning and ending pay, it became a difficult challenge.”

Here is a breakdown of some of the raises given based on a teacher’s experience and education;

The rate of raises is different for the 2018-19 school year based on education and experience, but all teachers are set to receive a flat 3-percent raise in 2019-20, Rivera said.

Across the region, school districts have been contending with teacher unions after the state Legislature gave funding to districts to help pay teacher salaries and support “basic education.”

Teacher unions in the Tacoma and Puyallup school districts — the largest in Pierce County, serving a collective 52,000 students — are poised to hit the streets if they can’t reach agreements with school district leaders over hoped-for salary increases.

“I read recently in the (Tacoma News Tribune) that the legislature knew it was going to be ‘messy’,” Jarvis said. “Well messy is an understatement.”

Jarvis said he came to the bargaining table late, since he was only appointed in August after Rob Manahan resigned as superintendent. For Jarvis, who has decades of experience bargaining with Washington teachers, there were three main objectives the district and union wanted to reach.

They were finding a way to “honor our teachers” by giving them a professional salary, sustain any raises given to the teachers and competing with other districts while bringing in younger teachers.

“We have to find a professional salary that is competitive enough to attract younger educators,” Rivera said. “When you add on the cost it takes to become an educator and the cost to keep your credentials, we have to decide what an appropriate salary is.”

According to the agreement between the Peninsula Education Association and the school district, the district received $7.5 million from the Legislature, but an expiring levy and a decrease in local funding means the new money is not adding to the budget but balancing it.

Jarvis said he is proud of the work Andersen and Rivera put into the agreement and hopes negotiations in 2020 will be less strenuous on staff.