Pasco teachers approve double-digit raise

Pasco teachers have approved a new two-year contract that includes a double-digit raise.

A total of 607 teachers union members cast ballots Thursday night, with about 95 percent voting in favor.

Scott Wilson, union president, declined to give the exact percentage of the raise in advance of the school board’s ratification.

But he said his goal was to have a starting teacher at the beginning of the pay scale make more than $50,000 and a tenured teacher at the top of the scale make at least $100,000, and the new pact accomplishes that.

“As with any contract, there are things we’ll need to continue to improve for members. But I’m very happy with this contract. I’m glad that we were able to get it ratified in time for the end of our previous contract, so we can all move forward,” he said.

The union has about 1,200 members, including teachers, counselors, nurses and others who need a certificate to do their jobs.

In a statement, Superintendent Michelle Whitney said she’s proud of the hard work done by the bargaining teams this summer.

“This is a sustainable contract that will allow us to keep and attract great teachers,” she said.

Pasco was the last Tri-City school district without a settled teacher contract for the 2018-19 academic year.

The union’s approval came just in time, as classes started this week and teachers’ existing one-year contract expired Friday.

If teachers hadn’t signed off on the new pact, they could have kept working while negotiators went back to the bargaining table. They also could have considered striking, as teachers in some other districts across the state are doing.

In 2015, a teachers strike in Pasco delayed school by nine days. In that case, lack of curriculum and materials was a top issue.

This summer, teacher pay has been a major sticking point as districts grappled with an overhaul of the state education funding system.

The Washington Education Association urged local unions to push for double-digit raises, pointing to a $2 billion infusion for educator pay as part of the overhaul.

But some districts said the changes, including capping and limiting local levy dollars and tossing out the old method of paying for teachers, put a significant dent in or negate any infusion.

In Kennewick, teachers last week approved a new salary schedule that covers the final year of their existing three-year contract.

The new schedule includes an average raise of 9.3 percent.

In Richland, teachers are getting a bigger raise — 22 percent over three years. That teachers union approved its new contract last week.

A disparity in state money provided to the districts accounts for some of the difference in raises.

While Richland got extra “regionalization” funding to make up for higher cost of living, neighboring Kennewick did not.

Pasco also didn’t qualify for regionalization.

The Pasco School District and teachers union settled on the new contract after months of negotiations and last-minute help from a state mediator. The union earlier this summer voted on a different version of the pact, but it didn’t win enough votes for ratification.

This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 9:21 PM.