Modesto school board passes 6 percent raise for teachers

If Modesto City Schools teachers give their approval later this month, they are in for a 6 percent raise.

School board members narrowly passed an agreement on Monday night. The vote to approve the 2015-16 contract was 4 to 2, with trustees Cindy Marks and Amy Neumann the dissenting voices. Teachers will vote on ratifying the deal March 10.

“There are not adequate funds,” Neumann said, drawing gasps and protests before the vote. She said she would be voting against the deal, pointing out the raise will dip into one-time funding for an ongoing cost.

“I don’t want to give a raise we have to cut later,” she said.

Cindy Marks pointed out with the raises the contract will trigger districtwide the cost will be $13.8 million for the district, $41 million over the three-year commitment.

“I know it’s going to restrict opportunities for our neediest students,” Marks said. “I cannot support this.”

The average Modesto teacher makes $91,000 a year, she pointed out, with 287 receiving more than $100,000.

“I know it’s been a long process to get to this,” Marks said, saying she worried about the raise being sustainable.

Teachers union negotiator Chris Peterson spoke before the vote, pointing out the deal gave some and took some from both sides.

“I think there’s a lot in this tentative agreement to celebrate,” he said. Top of his list was an additional 45-minute weekly prep period for elementary teachers, made possible by the addition of computer literacy teachers who will teach a weekly class to early grade students. That starts in the 2016-17 school year.

The contract also adds music instruction, he said, adding, “The community is desperate to see that type of change.”

More transparent stipend allocations and a two-year calendar to avoid the month by month stuttering start at the beginning of this year were also improvements, Peterson said.

Negotiations will soon begin on the 2016-17 contract, he said, with teachers putting a priority on lowering class sizes with their next bargaining push.

The normally seven-member board is still down a member pending a 30-day waiting period for appointee Chad Brown.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Modesto school board passes 6 percent raise for teachers."