AEA-ASD Contract Negotiations

The total salary increase is close to 5% each year. Teachers will also receive a 2% salary increase for experience in each of the three years of the contract. These “step” increases are in addition to the 3%, 2.5% and 2.5% annual raises.

In addition, the health insurance increases that the district agreed to pay per teacher, per month, were significant enough that they would have reduced a teacher’s annual out-of-pocket cost for insurance by about $300.

Lastly, teachers who take professional development courses and earn college credits, master’s degrees, doctorates or national certification can increase their salaries even more. These increases are known as “education attainment.”

Increases in planning time are very important. Specifically, when teachers have time to meet together to review student assessment data and plan and coordinate lessons, student achievement increases. Adding that time means adding additional staff and restructuring schedules. That cannot be done without funding and time to implement the changes. Not all elementary schools have adequate facilities to accommodate increased staff and programs.

Anchorage teachers are highly valued by the district. They are critical to student success. The district regrets that the union believes teachers feel undervalued. Staff surveys conducted in the spring of 2005 showed that 80.5% of ASD staff—including teachers—said they were satisfied with their jobs. More than three-quarters said that they felt supported by other staff, that administration was approachable and available to help, and that teachers and staff have a good working relationship. In spring of 2006, a similar survey showed that ASD employees feel morale is strong—on an overall scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being the best, employees rated their attitudes as a 4.12. School leadership and a respectful climate were also rated highly by employees.

There were years in the 1990s that teachers received little or no raises because of severe budget shortfalls. But in 2000 teachers and the district agreed to a new salary schedule designed to bridge the gap created by earlier pay freezes. And in every year since then, the teachers union and the district have agreed to contracts that have given annual step increases, annual overall raises, and allowed teachers to earn educational attainment raises.

The district and the teachers union are currently bargaining. Both sides are hopeful that a contract will be settled soon.