RSU 40 interim Superintendent Michael Cormier confirmed Dec. 11 teachers in the district now have a signed, ratified contract.
Negotiations for a new contract began in January 2012, and eventually grew contentious to the point that teachers and students protested and the Maine Labor Relations Board was involved as a mediator.
Teachers initiated “work-to-rule,” where they would strictly follow the requirements of their contracts, as a protest in April. Around 25 Medomak Valley High School students were suspended after a sit-in protest in support of the teachers the following week.
The teachers protested further by opting not to march in the high school graduation.
The negotiations were still hung up over teacher compensation as of early October, but the RSU 40 board of director’s negotiating committee and representatives from the Medomak Valley Educators Association found tentative agreement on Nov. 18.
According to a press release from negotiating committee member Tod Brown, teacher salaries will increase retroactively (beginning in the 2012-2013 school year) by 1.5 percent, 2 percent, and 2 percent annually through the three-year contract.
The contract also includes a method for incentivizing student achievement on standardized tests by linking certain funds to improvement goals.
If the goals of a particular school are attained, each teacher in the school will receive an additional $1000 in the 2014-2015 school year – if the goals are not met, the money will be used to fund professional development focused on improving teaching and student performance, according to the release.
“The board feels that this approach will tend to promote collaboration among faculty rather than the competition fostered by traditional ‘merit pay’ plans that focus on individual teachers,” Brown wrote.
Teachers will also have the opportunity to earn an additional $500 if they develop community-focused activities related to curriculum goals, according to the release.
“Although the financial resources available to fund our schools are under severe pressure, the board feels that the settlement is fair to both the teachers and the taxpayers,” Brown wrote. “The achievement of our students has been the board’s focus throughout the lengthy negotiations and it is the board’s hope that this contract will make it clear to all that we have high expectations of our students, our teachers and our community.”
The contract also includes new health insurance options for teachers, and a requirement that all newly hired teachers obtain a master’s degree within 10 years of becoming employed by the district, according to the release.
According to Cormier, the only issue remaining to be agreed upon are stipends for coaches, which will go before the board at their meeting on Thursday, Dec. 19.
