District 203 teachers approve 3-year contract
Naperville Unit District 203 teachers voted Friday to approve a three-year contract giving them average annual pay increases of 2 percent over the life of the deal.
Pay will be frozen for most teachers during the first year of the pact and then increase in each of the next two years.
Roughly 91.8 percent of the 1,350 teachers in the Naperville Unit Education Association voted in favor of the deal.
"Everybody recognizes the issues that are impacting the district and understands the common need of focusing on what we need to do and that's continuing quality education for our kids," union President Dave Griffith said.
Under the agreement, pay will be frozen for teachers for the first year, except for those who have either completed additional education or are close to retirement. That freeze includes both the teachers' base pay and any "step" increases for experience.
Griffith said the freeze is a "permanent loss in their career earnings" that will save the district money every year. While teachers weren't initially thrilled about the freeze, he said, leaders urged them to look at the total package.
The average teacher will receive a 2.84 percent pay increase in the second year of the contract.
During the third year, the base raise will be 75 percent of the 2010 rate of inflation which is not yet known. With the additional "step" increase for having more experience, officials estimate the total increase will come out to an average of 3.14 percent.
Teachers also can earn money for getting more education in the second and third years of the contract.
The new deal also keeps retirement benefits in place, giving teachers salary increases of up to 6 percent for as many as four years before they retire.
Negotiators for both sides reached a tentative agreement on the deal Tuesday, just a week after talks began.
Members of the teachers union voted Friday to ratify the pact. The school board will hold a special meeting to vote on the contract at 7 p.m. Monday, March 8, at the administrative office, 203 W. Hillside Road.
Officials estimate the average annual cost of the salary increases will be less than 1 percent, due in part to new teachers replacing retirees.
"Not only does this agreement recognize the immediacy of the current economic situation, it also looks ahead to balance the future needs of District 203, including the need to recognize the quality of our faculty and the important role they play in our students' and this district's overall success," Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said in a written statement.
He did not return calls for additional comment.
The district had planned to keep details of the agreement secret until Monday, but decided to make them public earlier after the Daily Herald outlined key parts of the contract on Thursday.
The two sides also have agreed to form a committee to develop a new compensation system that rewards teachers for "classroom effectiveness," according to the release. The committee will report to the board no later than June 2011.
Teachers currently are working under a contract that gives them average salary increases of 3.8 percent this school year and last. That deal expires June 30.
The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience this year was $42,808. A teacher with a master's degree plus 54 hours of additional college credit and 22 years of experience makes $105,278.