Last spring the district and the teachers’ union reached a tentative contract agreement that was later rejected by the membership. We have listened to concerns about the original agreement and addressed them in a new agreement that is fair to teachers yet within the district’s financial constraints.
Today Anchorage teachers have an opportunity to vote on a three-year contract that provides pay and benefit increases to 3,500 individuals who make a significant difference in the quality of education our children receive. I hope each and every member of the Anchorage Education Association carefully reviews the tentative agreement and exercises his or her right to vote.
Unfortunately, information about the agreement is being misrepresented by some. A Compass editorial addressing the tentative agreement ran in this column on Tuesday and contained numerous factual errors. These errors related to the district’s financial commitment, the competitiveness of the offer and the sources of funding for the agreement. I am confident that teachers will consider the facts and make their own determination before voting.
The district has added financial resources to this agreement. We modified the original agreement to accommodate the union’s interest in salary increases and a bonus for all teachers at the top of the salary schedule. Some of the funding for these increases came from maintaining the current number of leave days instead of increasing them, as originally proposed. In addition, this agreement includes additional planning time for elementary teachers, which costs the district an estimated $2 million per year.
The author of yesterday’s piece stated that “ . . .the cost to implement this additional planning time would be at the expense of teachers’ personal leave, salary increases and medical coverage.” This is incorrect. We will fund the additional planning time that occurs in the second and third year of the contract by hiring additional staff. This does not reduce leave, salary or medical coverage for teachers. The first proposal included $2 million in additional planning time. The district increased this to $4 million in the current proposal and still increased salaries for teachers.
Some question whether this agreement keeps pace with inflation. In fact, the proposed pay increase outpaces the latest inflation rate of 4.2% reported in the Anchorage Daily News. The formula for calculating cost-of-living includes health care costs, so any comparison should also include the district’s health care contribution. Teachers would receive a $90 per month increase in their health insurance contribution, plus a 3% salary schedule increase in the first year. Together, this yields a 4.3% increase for the highest paid teacher; the percentage is greater for individuals at the lower end of the schedule, with beginning teachers earning a 5.5% increase. In addition, teachers also receive an automatic increase for experience, which is roughly 2% per year. Individuals at the top of the salary schedule receive a $1,000 "bonus." Combined, teachers will receive total increases that range between 5.8% and 8.5% in the first year alone.
Statements indicating that the rising cost of health insurance will result in teachers losing money are also inaccurate. Teachers are part of a health plan that is controlled by their union, not the district. Even so, the union has told teachers that in the first and second year of the proposed contract they will pay less out of pocket than they do now. The union has also said that it anticipates premiums may increase by the third year, but teachers will still pay less out-of-pocket than they do today.
It is true that teachers experienced salary freezes in the 1990s, but we made up for those freezes in the contract settled in 2000 and we continue to provide healthy salary increases. Claims that the district never addressed this are unfair and untrue. In 2000, the district and union agreed on a new salary schedule structure to bridge the salary gap established in the 1990s. Teachers were placed on that new salary schedule and salary increases ranged from 5% to 10% for the first year. Since that contract, teachers have consistently received increases.
This community and this administration value teachers and the important work they do; we've built community trust and respect through hard work and an open, honest administration. I have consistently worked to direct funds to the classroom and to hire the best available teachers. Today it is up to teachers to consider the facts and cast their vote on a new contract.
Superintendent Carol Comeau
907-742-4312
comeau_carol@asdk12.org
August 2006
AEA-ASD Tentative Agreement (PDF)
