Ann Arbor school board ratifies contract for teachers
The Ann Arbor school board ratified a two-year contract with its teachers' union Wednesday night.
The contract calls for a pay freeze for teachers this school year. However, some teachers will receive raises due to the district's step promotion program, which gives teachers more pay for each additional year of experience.
The agreement also sets the district's calendar for this school year and next.Â
"These are difficult times," said school board Trustee Glenn Nelson, adding he thought the contract reflected tough times.
The district and union will have to sit down during this school year to bargain the pay rate for next school year.
District administrators and union officials said they didn't reach an agreement for next year's pay because of unsettled funding for the district.
The district gets the bulk of its funding from the state. Earlier Wednesday, a state legislative committee recommended the state cut funding to each school district by $218 per student.
That would be a loss of nearly $3.6 million this school year for the Ann Arbor district.
The district is also awaiting the results of the November election. A countywide enhancement millage is on the ballot. The 2-mill tax would raise about $11 million per year for the school district.
Union members approved the contract late last week on a 879-137 vote, union President Brit Satchwell said.
Comments
TXteacher
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 : 10:15 a.m.
Hey, A2 conservative, typical conservative thinking that you get no benefit from schools because you have no kids in them. Everyone benefits from an educated country. You may be a business owner who needs to hire educated people.You may need an educated doctor performing your surgery. Sad that this kind of short-sighted thinking is so prevalent these days.
A2Conservative
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 : 10:05 a.m.
It's about time the school system has to cut back like the rest of us. I do not feel bad at all that the teachers have to have a pay freeze. Most businesses haven't given raises for years, but we still get taxed higher to pay teachers increases?? That has to stop. From a past article, teachers in AA make way more than other districts, and we pay for that. AA per student funding is crazy high too, they all should be rocket scientists for that money. I do not see that! Cry me a river that $218 is being cut from $9000+, deal with it and stop attacking the tax payer! I do not even have children, so I feel it's unconstitutional that I have to pay for your responsibility at all. No more tax increases! Want Europe, then move there (take your round-abouts with you).