Talks are stalled between Petersburg’s teachers union and the school board. The two groups have been negotiating a new contract for teachers since January. Petersburg School Superintendent Erika Kludt-Painter is the spokesperson for the school board’s negotiation team.
“It is necessary to look at a very reasonable increase,” she said. “And we have made a generous offer in a time that’s fiscally challenging.”
After the two sides were unable to reach an agreement last month, they brought in a mediator. Kludt-Painter told KFSK that mediated negotiations are rarely necessary in Petersburg. But even mediation hasn’t helped close the gap.
Union reps said one of the main sticking points is that teachers’ salaries haven’t kept up with the increased cost of living. Teachers have gotten a 3% salary increase over the last few years – at 1% per year – but they say that because inflation has increased about 15 percent in that time, they need a salary increase to match that. Otherwise, their salaries are essentially decreasing.
Brian Smith is the husband of a Petersburg school teacher and has a kid in the school system. He spoke to the school board at the April 16 school board meeting.
“We are on track to being embarrassingly close to having the lowest teacher pay in the state,” he said. “We will not be able to recruit high-quality educators solely on the basis of our community and schools being desirable. Teachers can’t pay their monthly mortgage or rent on ‘desirable.’”
Petersburg teacher salaries currently start near $47,000 on the low end. Kludt-Painter says the district’s latest offer would increase those salaries by 15% over the next three years but teachers at the high end would get an increase of 8% over the next three years. Increases would not be adjustable for ongoing inflation during that time. And union reps say that even the highest salary in the district’s offer, which would bump top pay to $95,583 after three years, is low compared to salaries across the state.
Kludt-Painter says that while she agrees that low-end salaries need to increase substantially, the district can’t afford to make up for inflation for all teachers. That’s because the Petersburg district is facing a tight budget next year. Funding from the state has been flat for years and the district is drafting its budget for next year with the assumption that funding won’t increase. The budget contains cuts in every department, including fewer teachers and decreased activity travel.
No further negotiations between the Petersburg School Board and the teachers union are scheduled at this time.
