Petersburg teachers will likely have a contract for the next three years. That’s because a deal between the teachers union and the school district met a final requirement this afternoon when Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the state operating budget without vetoing any one-time public education funding. The two groups came to a tentative contract agreement in May that was contingent on Dunleavy approving all $175 million dollars for public education in the state operating budget.
That agreement came after five months of stalled negotiations earlier this year. Both sides said tight state education funding complicated negotiations.
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 inflation has increased nearly 15% in that time. They say they need a salary increase to match that, otherwise, their salaries are essentially decreasing.
Alice Cumps is president of Petersburg’s teachers union. She said it’s a relief to know the negotiations are finally over.
“I think it’s also kind of a feeling like we’ve got a good win, in that the community will be able to continue to provide quality education to our students,” she said.
Initially district negotiators said the district couldn’t afford to make up for inflation for all teachers. But after Dunleavy made assurances that he would not veto this year’s one-time education funding, they said that state funding would make it possible to pay for increased teacher salaries.
Robyn Taylor is the Petersburg School District’s new superintendent, starting on July 1. She said she’s elated, because it will help the school district with funding for the school year.
“This is just a huge sigh of relief all across the board for district operations, but especially for the teachers union,” she said. “Because those individuals work so incredibly hard, and we want to pay them what they’re worth. And this just allows us to come to the agreement with them for the proposed salary increase.”
The district’s proposal was also contingent on $3.4 million in funding from the Petersburg Borough Assembly – the maximum amount the borough can legally contribute. The assembly voted unanimously on June 3 to include the full amount in its budget for the coming school year.
Union leadership will next present the proposed contract to the teachers. Cumps said she anticipates they will vote to accept the contract.
