Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Percentages

What percentages of medical and dental premiums do those amounts account for?

Teachers on the move??

It seems that at least some school district are giving raises that reflect the community's ability to pay for those raises. I hope the PLSD school board is paying attention.

South-West teachers accept contract
Many unhappy with size of raises in two-year pact
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 3:14 AM
By Andrew Tobias

FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
South-Western teachers chose a two-year contract over a strike, but their union president said members are unhappy about the terms -- a 2 1/2 percent raise the first year and a 2 percent raise the next.

''They wanted to get this settled so we can all move on,'' said Rolla Beach, president of the South-Western Education Association.

But some might start looking for greener pastures because the pay is not competitive, he said.

School board President Jim Lester acknowledged that as a possibility, but one that he hopes doesn't come to pass.

''If they do start leaving then it's going to be a factor that we're going to have to deal with,'' he said. He added that the school board, which approved the contract Monday night, did the best it could considering the weak economy and state budget cuts.

Beach said the district's shifting financial forecasts -- including predicted deficits that disappeared -- made it difficult to negotiate with the school board.

Two-thirds of the district's 1,500 certified staff members, who include teachers, guidance counselors, nurses, psychologists and tutors, voted in favor of the contract last week.

The pact will cost the district $4.7 million over the two years. The raises in it mirror the ones given to administrators and support staff members, whose new contract was approved by the school board Dec. 3.

The teachers will receive their first raise retroactive to Aug. 23. (Teachers also receive ''step increases'' based on years of experience and education levels.)

Union members received 1 percent and 2 percent raises in their previous contract, which also was a two-year deal. The contract before that gave annual raises closer to 4 percent.

On Nov. 19, the union gave its leadership the power to call a strike if necessary. A week earlier, more than 900 union members rallied before a school-board meeting to express concern about stalled negotiations.

With about 20,500 students, South-Western is the state's sixth-largest district.

First-year teachers earned $34,431 last school year, while those with a master's degree, 30 additional hours of college credit and 24 years of experience made $78,021, according to the district's salary schedule.

rmessinger@dispatch.com