Monroe County school corp. teachers close to getting new contract. Here's what's in it.
Starting teacher salaries would increase 15.5% over the next two years while experienced educators would get a pay bump of 5.4% during the same period under a new tentative contract the teachers union has negotiated with the Monroe County Community School Corp.
If the proposal is adopted — a vote is expected late this month — the teachers at MCCSC also would, for the first time, get paid parental leave.
“We have hit quite a few goals this time around,” said Paul Farmer, president of the Monroe County Education Association, the local teachers union, which has about 825 members.
Higher salaries for MCCSC teachers
The two-year contract calls for the starting salary of a teacher with a bachelor’s degree to increase from $50,000 today to $52,150 next year and $57,750 the year after that. That’s a total increase of $7,750.
Pay increases at the top end, for the most experienced teachers with a master’s degree, would be much smaller. The highest salary, $85,000 today, would increase to $89,550, an increase of $4,550.
Farmer said the union wanted to bolster recruitment and retention efforts especially at the low end of the wage scale. The new contract also would allow teachers to get to the top end of the salary scale more quickly.
Farmer said MCCSC teacher salaries compare well to those paid by other nearby corporations but need to remain competitive with what school districts around Indianapolis pay.
In the future, he said, the district also needs to bump its pay for more experienced teachers, as retaining teachers, especially veteran teachers, improves student performance.
“We know students benefit when teachers stay,” he said. “We want to decrease the turnover.”
MCCSC Superintendent Jeff Hauswald said during Wednesday night’s board meeting that state law allows contracts of one or two years, and the administration and teachers union have preferred two-year contracts to provide stability and predictability for what pay increases employees can expect.
MCCSC board President April Hennessey said the district’s starting wage is near the average for teachers in Indiana.
Hauswald said the board would vote on the proposal in a special meeting on Nov. 28.
How much will the MCCSC salary increases cost? How will they be funded?
MCCSC's administration said via email it could not answer until after Nov. 28 how much the raises were going to cost the school corporation in total or how it was paying for them. The state, which primarily pays for school operations in Indiana, has increased its contributions to schools for the next two years. In addition, the money the school corporation gets from a school referendum that local voters approved last year also is increasing thanks to rising property values.
Farmer said the referendum voters approved last year plays a critical role in bolstering local teacher salaries. The referendum this year is increasing teacher pay by a flat $4,500.
“Without (voters’) support … we could not do what we’ve been able to do,” Farmer said.
New benefit: 8 days of parental leave
The union president said teachers next year also would get a new benefit: Eight days of parental leave. Teachers now have to take vacation time for births and adoptions.
The additional time off would be covered by licensed teachers the corporation hires to fill in for absences, Farmer said.
The union president also said the new contract requires local schools to provide space and time for new mothers to express breast milk. While federal and state laws already require such an accommodation, Farmer said it was important to codify that in a local contract, in part to send a message to potential and current employees.
“We value our families,” he said. “We value our employees that have families.”
You can read more about the contract proposal here: tinyurl.com/3mr3zeky
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington-area teachers may get higher salaries, paid parental leave
