Cedar Rapids teachers to receive 1.5-percent compensation increase

CEDAR RAPIDS - Teachers in the Cedar Rapids Community School District will receive a 1.5-percent increase in total compensation next school year and a 3.5-percent increase the following year, under a two-year agreement approved by the school board Monday.

The Cedar Rapids Education Association accepted a lower-than-usual increase for next year with possible district budget cuts in mind, said vice president Pete Clancy, who led the union's bargaining team.

'We realize that the district is in a tight financial position, especially this year,” Clancy said. 'We think it's important to keep teachers in the classroom.”

The 1.5-percent total package increase for 2015-16 is less than half the state average of 3.43 percent, among the 159 teacher contracts statewide that have been settled so far this year, said Jean Hessburg, a spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association.

It includes increases in salaries, a post-employment health plan and a wellness incentive, Clancy said.

The district is in a difficult financial position for next school year due to both a slight decline in enrollment this year and a lower-than-usual increase in state supplemental aid, said Jill Cirivello, the district's executive director of human resources. State supplemental aid - a major school funding category - likely will increase by 1.25 percent for 2015-16.

The district will be able to keep more teachers on staff next year and make fewer budget reductions because the union agreed to a lower-than-usual compensation increase, Cirivello said.

'Give them credit for that,” she said.

It's also unusual for the Cedar Rapids district and union to agree on a two-year contract, Cirivello said. The promise of a 3.5-percent compensation increase for 2016-17 - assuming state supplemental aid increases by between 1 and 5 percent that year - was important for the union, Clancy said.

The 1.5-percent increase for 2015-16 will cost the district roughly an additional $1.34 million, according to board documents. The district employs about 1,250 teachers, Cirivello said.

Other changes in the contract include:

l Each school in the district will have a permanent substitute teacher available three days per week.

l Teachers will be required to go to fewer meetings during their prep time.

Clancy said those changes will give teachers more time to prepare lessons and grade students' work.

'Teachers are routinely asked to give up their prep time because of the lack of availability of subs,” he said.

The district and union have been in negotiations on the contract since January.

Transportation workers, carpenters and painters in the district all will receive 1.25-percent total package increases next school year, according to board documents. A contract for paraeducators in the district still is being negotiated, Cirivello said.