Inglewood : Schools OK Pact Giving More Money to Teachers

After months of stalled negotiations, the Inglewood Unified School District Board on Monday unanimously approved a one-year salary and fringe benefits contract.

The contract will give Inglewood teachers a 9% raise and 75% of the $2 million the district expects to receive from the state over the next three years for complying with a school reform bill that lengthens the school day.

The anticipated state monies had been a major point of dispute between board members and the Inglewood Teachers Assn., with board members unwilling to commit themselves to allocating more than one year’s funds at a time.

However, according to school board President William (Tony) Draper, “it became clear to us that we would not get a negotiation through without that contingency language. We realized we would lose money that was irretrievable if we didn’t settle soon. That was a big motivating factor.”

Draper explained that unless the district moved to implement this year’s increase in school time soon, it would fail to qualify for this year’s reform bill funds.

In return for the state monies they will be receiving, teachers agreed to give up a medical prescription card that had been part of their fringe benefits package.

Draper said that while the board is pleased with the agreement, he is unhappy that so much of the money has been committed to teachers’ salaries.

“We desperately need to put money back into custodial services,” he said. “We have buildings that are getting older, shabbier, more deteriorated. I’d been hoping we’d be able to use some of this money to get our schools in shape.