Fairbanks school district, teachers union reach tentative contract agreement
Originally published Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 3:39 p.m.
Updated Monday, October 13, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District and Fairbanks Education Association, the teachers’ union, have reached a tentative agreement on 2008-2011 teacher contracts.
The agreement includes $1,200 and a 2 percent annual raise in the first year; $600 and a 3 percent annual raise in the second year and a 4 percent annual raise in the final year of the contract.
A new column was added in the salary schedule — which classifies teachers based on experience and education — for teachers, therapists and psychologists who have obtained national board certification.
It also raises the salary of incoming teachers, a goal for both the school board and FEA, said Leslie Hajdukovich, school board president.
In addition, the agreement settles the question of health insurance. All covered employees will have new choices for health care coverage.
FEA members will vote to ratify the agreement during the FEA membership meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday. FEA president Steve Laroe said members will be able to use the time between the release of the agreement and the vote to ask questions. FEA building representatives will get a chance to ask the bargaining team questions during the representatives’ council meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“I believe and the team believes they have met the priorities expressed by the membership before the negotiations started,” Laroe said.
FEA members will be the first to vote on the agreement. Laroe said he is hopeful the members will approve the agreement.
If FEA ratifies the agreement, it will then need the school board’s approval.
Hajdukovich said she is encouraged and pleased with the agreement after the long process of negotiation and mediation. She said she hopes this agreement will show teachers that the school district and school board value their service to the students of the school district.
“I’m pleased that we are moving forward to put this behind us and all parties can move on to the next thing,” she said.
She said the board will likely ratify the tentative agreement.
Contact staff writer Christi Hang at 459-7590.
Community Discussion
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it is about time the money is already budgeted, i wonder if the superintendent had a hand in the foot dragging. the next time the school district hires a superintend they do not go out side but promote from within. enough said.
It is not enough. This is far less than the 4.8% budgeted. It is divisive in that lower tier teachers will see a higher percentage increase, while higher tier, more experienced teachers are once again asked to take a lower percentage increase. This is nothing less than an attempt to break up a union. We have taken this sliding scale before in order to bring up the lower tiers, but we are all burdened by the same cost of living increases. Everyone should receive the same 4.8% raise.
I usually hear a lot about how low-paid teachers are, but Dermot Cole's column has made me change my mind. It appears that the lower scale teachers aren't making a lot, but the more experienced one's are doing fine ($70,000+).
I just hope this offer averts a strike.
Seems odd that someone would recommend that all receive the same percentage of increase or even sliding scale system when there are so many high achievers and so many non-achievers. Sad that the best have to settle for the "average" - seems like there's no financial reward to be anything other than par.
robbmyers: That figure comes with MANY years of service AND A MASTER'S PLUS 36 CREDITS OR A DOCTORATE. When's the last time you paid for that kind of education? It's not cheap. After you figure in all of that, those teachers are not left with much of a "raise" or high salary.
Cole's article takes the teachers' plight out of context. Look at some of the other articles/letters to the editor dealing with teacher pay. Also, Anchorage teachers actually make more than Fairbanks teachers because it costs less to live there than here--about 11% less.
Because they're responsible for each and every student's education, teachers are doing an average of 25 vitally important jobs every hour. How about we pay them minimum wage for each job? That would be about $180.00 per hour. They're worth at least that.
Teachers are doing the most important job in the nation besides parenting. They're building humans/citizens for our future. We sure have some warped priorities in this nation when basketball and football players make millions of dollars a year to get a ball from one end of the court/field to the other, and teachers have to beg for a five percent increase that doesn't even keep them up with inflation. I'm not a teacher, but I work in the schools and from what I've seen in the past few years, teachers deserve FAR more than just that piddly five percent that WAS ALREADY BUDGETED FOR THEM.
Gil, I agree, and I wonder why they've taken down the comments on Dermot Cole's columns. This is not Anchorage, it is Fairbanks. The two pay scales are obviously structured slightly differently, and what's the problem with that? If I wanted to live in Anchorage I'd live in Anchorage, not here.
And tkwiseman, where in this article do you see any details of the contract?
From Dermot Cole's blog:
"The contract includes a combination of flat-dollar increases and percentages in each step on the salary schedule for 1,000 local teachers.
The first year calls for a $1,200 increase in each step, along with a 2 percent raise.
The second year would bring a $600 increase along with a 3 percent additional raise, while the third year would feature a 4 percent increase across the board.
The starting salary for new teachers was bumped up to $40,904 for new teachers with a bachelor's degree. In addition, the starting wage for teachers with higher educational levels was also adjusted up."
So this contract gives all the crappy teachers the same raise as the great ones?
How on earth are these not performance based? What incentive is there to be the teacher who goes the extra mile for their students as opposed to the one who shows up, goes through the motions, collects paychecks and goes home?
This is disgusting. The teachers ought to shoot this down and push for performance based raises. The great teachers can get their 7 and 8% raises annually, the (many) bad ones can accept their 0% raises and either improve to earn raises or go find new jobs.
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Hmmm. This seems interesting and I'll be looking forward to getting the details.
For those of you who are dissatisfied because you think pay should be merit based -- well, even as a teacher I agree with you that it would be better if we could be paid on merit/accomplishment. I know most teachers to be hard-working and innovative. However, there are always a few in a school who are clearly not "good" teachers and it has always annoyed me that they're making as much or more than I am.
The problem is, how do you determine who has earned a raise and who hasn't? Merit-based pay systems have been tried and been disasters in several districts in the Lower 48, I believe. The most popular way to determine merit is student performance on tests, and there are so many variables there that are completely out of the teacher's control that I would be furious if my pay depended on collective student performance. It needs to be based on MY performance...and how do you measure that?
Hmmmm...I would question the statement that there are a bunch of crappy teachers floating around out there.
I know that teachers are evaluated every year. New teachers are observed by the principal 3 times a year before they reach tenure status. After they reach tenure, they are still evaluated every year, if found lacking in a certain area they are put on a plan of improvement.
"If a tenured teacher has been on a plan of improvement for at least ninety (90) days and does not meet standards in one (1) or more areas by March 1, the matter will be referred to the Human Resources Department for review and possible issuance of a letter of nonretention by March 15." (Taken directly from the district website).
Sure, they're given 3 months to fix the problem, but ultimately if the problem still exists they're not going to be retained.
If for some reason a "bad" teacher has slipped through the cracks...it's the fault of the administrator. Perhaps their performance should be assessed?
That said...I believe that most teachers in Fairbanks do a wonderful job! Congrats on the new contract!!!
Dr. Wagner earns $145,000.00 each year, guaranteed for a three year contract. See the September 3, 2008, Newsminer article. Compared to her salary, I don't think $70,000.00 for the highest paid teacher is high. I want our school district to pay well the people who have daily, direct contact with my children. Reduce administrators' pay (Their pay starts at $104,000.00. Their pay scale is public information from the school district.); it's wrong that Dr. Wagner earns more than twice what our most educated and experienced teachers earn.
I agree that merit-based pay for teachers would be difficult. As Shola mentions above, standardized tests are often the first suggestion, and that is just not a good idea. Kids who perform well in school but test poorly will bring down a teacher's "rating," as will students with special needs who have improved but still test "below" where they should be.
How do you determine when a good teacher has put in those "above and beyond" hours? This week my spouse got stayed quite late on Friday and didn't go back over the weekend. Other weeks a 4 - 6 hour Sunday at school is what it takes. Some teachers take home work while others prefer to stay until it's all done. Will a principal have to stay at school until the last teacher leaves every day, and come in every Saturday and Sunday to see who's there? Will teachers have to turn in receipts to show that they are spending extra money on their classrooms? Teachers provide that "above and beyond" in so many ways that it is difficult to document and keep track of.
I think a lot of people who've only worked in the private sector don't understand that these types of pay scales are pretty common. The university has a similar step and column pay scale, although they don't reward employees for earning further degrees. And folks who've worked in government funded jobs may not realize that salaries in the private sector are often merit-based and sometimes even have room for bonuses. There are different ways things are done, and what works for one group may not work for another.
I hope this is over. Reading these articles I've been concerned that our new superintendent and administration were the problem. This district has a lot of the same teachers who I had in school. There was never a strike or a problem when I was in school. Has anyone noticed that the year we get a new superintendent the negotiations went south? The leaders of the district set the tone for the relationship between staff and administration. Clearly, a bad tone was set last year when the negotiations began. I'm glad the teachers stood up to it! I would have brought my old favorite teachers coffee on the picket line.
"Merit pay for teachers"? Sounds good in theory. But in real life, the relatives, good friends, political allies and general suck-ups. Will end up being declared the most meritorious
Well I am happy the teachers are getting some respect, still does not seem like much for some one who is asked to educate and mold the future of our country. I would reject it and strike but I guess that would not be for the greater good. The across the board raise and step increases are very common and hard to get away from when dealing with a union who has to look out fo all of it's members not just the good ones. If you want to weed out the bad teachers hold the administrators who evaluate them responsible, many admins will not give unsatisfactory evaluations because putting a teacher on an improvement plan is more work for them (we can't have that), they allready have to be at school 15 minutes before the teachers work day starts and stay untill 15 after the teachers work day is over and all for a miniscule 104,000 a year.
"If a tenured teacher has been on a plan of improvement for at least ninety (90) days and does not meet standards in one (1) or more areas by March 1, the matter will be referred to the Human Resources Department for review and possible issuance of a letter of nonretention by March 15." (Taken directly from the district website).
Does anyone know how many teachers have received a letter of nonretention in the last five years? Any? Is this number available anywhere or is this statement something that is never actually enforced?
Merit pay for teachers? Not with union representation...It's called COLLECTIVE bargaining.
With oil plummeting, who is going to get stuck with this large raise in 5 years when our local goverment cant afford to pay for it?
Nice to see some positive comments for a change; about time. I'll make room for the nay-sayers. However, they can rest assured they got their dollar's worth today (and every day) in my British Lit class.
I keep reading comments about crappy teachers getting raises, same as great teachers. Performance based pay? Your twisted. There are so many variables in a teachers' life & work. We can celebrate a teacher who has helped a student achieve success because the student, the parents, and the teachers have worked together to earn success. How can you hold a teacher responsible (and pay them less) for student absences and tardies? Parents, and students play a tremendous role in what we perceive as teacher success. Educating our students requires teamwork.
As a retired teacher I find it sad that teachers still have to grovel to get a decent wage. After reading the previous blogs, I found it encouraging that there are truly people out there who understand what teachers do. I have always held the opinion that anyone who becomes a school board member should have to shadow a teacher for a while to gain an understanding of the school system and how their policies affect areas of which they know very little. I can remember one contract renewal year, a teacher went before the school board to ask why a teacher with 15 years experience and a master's plus 36 credits made less than the superintendent's secretary. That teacher was told by the schoolboard that they knew the people in Central Office and they worked really hard. That was a tough slap in the face, particularly to those of us who were putting in 50+ hours a week, providing many of our own supplies, and attending college in the summer. If the standard of teaching has declined, I feel these types of situations have been a large contributing factor. I loved my job, and I'd do it again, but I can understand why the profession is losing so many to professions that pay more for the education they have. Sad commentary on our society.
As an administrator with more then fifteen years in this district, I would like to know the web address listing the pay scale for admin. I must be due for a pay raise that I was unaware of because after all these years, I still don't make what apparently is starting pay for an administrator.
akblogger:
You probably need to sign in on the district homepage to access this URL.
http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/index.php...
The highest paid admin is at the high school level with 10 years = $103,078.
Middle level (10 yrs) = $95,649
Elementary (10yrs) = $93,293
it looks to me like the school board is locked into a contract with the superintendt my take is when his contract runs out reevaluate all people who are not teachers all vice principals and secretaries should be let go with recommendations. one principal and one secretary for each school. due to the internet and video confrencing no more paid trips. if school s in session principal is their if he is sick desiginate one teacher to make decisions on a emergency basis. i would like to see a indepent board go through school administrator offices and make each person prove why their job is essential if not they are terminated. i bet their would be lots of money in budget then for needed school supplies for teachers to teach.probably not politically correct but it would work.
I am the person who mentioned administrators' starting salary. I was not referring to school principals. I used the word administrators based on the exempt salary schedule I found in the school district's (public) approved financial plan for this fiscal year. That document states that assistant superintendents and the chief financial officer beginning salaries are $104,768.00. Their maximum salaries are $153,856.00. My complaint is that the gap between teachers and Central Office administrators is too great. Good luck obtaining a copy of the budget. It took me four trips to the chief financial officer's office last spring to get one.
Could someone explain to me exactly what the teachers are doing from the end of May until August? I am not implying it is nothing, I am just wondering since I have seen complaints about working extra hours.
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