Teachers, district not yet agreed

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA - Teacher and district negotiators failed to sign an

agreement Thursday that would provide teachers with a 9% across-the-board

pay increase, but negotiators said the delay was purely technical.

“You do want to read it over like 10 times,” Supt. Robert Barbot said

of the contract. “I think we’re all feeling good about the outcome in the

meantime. It’s looking positive and we hope it will be the right thing

for our teachers -- they deserve it.”

As they prepare to sign off on about $4 million worth of salary

increases for teachers -- which would bring the average salary in

Newport-Mesa just above the $53,000 mean for unified districts in Orange

County -- teachers’ negotiators are trying to get the district’s

guarantee that salaries won’t be allowed to fall below the average again.

To do that, on top of the 9% raise, the district will give teachers a

share of any uncommitted money received during the year, said Linda Mook,

president of the Newport-Mesa Teachers Federation.

That additional funding, Mook said, would be any cost of living

increase that may come in through the state.

“Basically, the district can’t commit dollars that it doesn’t have,

and we want to maintain all the great programs that we have, so the only

source of funding to keep teachers salaries competitive is additional

money,” Mook said. “We don’t have an interest in harming any programs.”

There are other, less glamorous pieces to the contract puzzle, one

being an additional year of previous work experience credit for new

teachers, bringing the number with which they are credited from six to

seven.

Another contract point provides a greater flexibility to district

officials when transferring a limited number of teachers to improve the

learning environment at a school.

It also outlines a teacher evaluation program that is in line with new

state laws and education codes.

Finally, it includes school district participation in two state

programs that will give them nearly $600,000 in state dollars.

The first program will provide $190,000 to raise salaries for

beginning teachers in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District from

$30,163 to $33,100 -- just below the county average of $33,347.

Teacher and district negotiation teams also agreed in June to begin

the peer assistance and review program, which was proposed by Gov. Gray

Davis. The peer program will cost about $400,000 to start up, Mook said.

It will replace the defunct teacher mentor program.

“We expect to sign the contract tomorrow,” Mook said. “Most of the

holdup is on numbering sections of contract and technical things. There

are no major points that we don’t agree on.”