Teachers, district agree to contract terms

It’s done — almost.

With a handshake from the chief negotiators and claps on both sides, the Collier County School District administration and the teachers tentatively have reached an agreement on a new contract.

But before the contract is final, it must be reviewed and approved by the teachers and the School Board.

Both sides agreed that teachers would receive a 6 percent increase for the 2006-07 school year. That means teachers with zero to three years experience and a bachelor’s degree would be paid $38,198, which is an increase over the $33,226 to $36,036 they are being paid now.

Teachers with 16 to 19 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree will be paid $58,812, an increase over the current $54,341 to $55,483 they are being paid now.

The offer is more than the district offered the teachers Tuesday night. Michele LaBute, chief negotiator for the district, said the it will receive 5 percent more in property tax revenue than it had anticipated, which translated to about $1.7 million it could use for raises.

But while the district could increase its offer from a 5 percent raise to a 6 percent increase, there is a catch – that all teachers will remain at their current step, which is measured by years of experience, for the 2006-07 school year. The teachers will move up to the next step in the 2007-08 school year, according to the agreement.

That means some teachers will lose. Those who have put in 19 years with the district and expected to go on longevity pay next year will have to wait until their 21st year of service.

The union asked to collapse the 16th step into 17 through 19 and move employees on the 19th step to longevity pay, but the district said it only had enough money to give one.

“There are only so many dollars,” said LaBute. “You have to pick one.”

The teachers met in a caucus to discuss their options. After a caucus, the union chose to collapse 16 into 17 through 19.

“We have talked and talked and talked. We like the 6 percent offer and we were trying to be creative in the way the freeze would work. We don’t want people to lose getting to the top,” said Cal Boggess, chief negotiator for the Collier County Education Association, which is the group that represents 80 percent of the district’s teachers.

The two sides worked until 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night to get the contract negotiated by the end of the school year, which is Friday.

Union officials will take the contract to their members today to try to get the contract ratified this weekend. The union will post a copy of the agreement on its Web site, http://ccea.naples.net/, by noon today.

The union then will host meetings at 4:30 p.m. today in the CCEA offices, 6710 Lone Oak Blvd., and at 2:30 p.m. today at Immokalee High School, 701 Immokalee Drive, to answer members’ questions about the contract.

Last week, members of the CCEA told the administration that the bylaws of the CCEA state the executive board has to give its members 10 school days’ notice before a vote to ratify a contract.

The union initially proposed that the ratification take place 10 days after the start of school in August. The current contract with teachers expires July 1.

But that delay concerned district officials.

After some discussion, the teachers agreed to hold the meetings and give themselves the opportunity to look at the contract and ask questions. If the teachers can come to a consensus on the agreement, it would be a verbal agreement until the union passes the requisite number of days it needs to sign the contract.