If passed, the contract will raise the salary of district teachers and paraprofessionals by three percent, according to union building co-representative Ken Tray.

Teachers and paraprofessionals are waiting for the results of a vote on their tentative contract with the district.

If passed, the contract will raise the salary of district teachers and paraprofessionals by three percent, according to union building co-representative Ken Tray. If it is not passed, the union will go “back to the table with the district,” union building co-representative Katherine Melvin said. Union members would work under the conditions of the old contract until a new one is negotiated.

In addition to the raise, teachers will receive a $225 classroom supply stipend not provided in previous contracts. Paraprofessionals, classroom aids and security guards will receive more pension benefits and attend an additional paid professional development day this year and next year, according to a booklet about the tentative agreement information distributed to union members. Tray expressed approval of these gains. “The stipend enhances academic freedom in the classroom and (the benefits) provides equity for paraprofessionals,” he said.

This contract differs slightly from the traditional three-year agreement. While most of the provisions will last for the three-year period, the contract also includes a provision for “re-openers,” which means that the district and the union will meet this spring and the following spring renegotiate “salary benefits and three articles for each side,” according to the contract booklet. “This is just the beginning of negotiating a greater pay raise,” Tray said.

This year’s relatively smooth contract talks paved the way for the district and the union to work together to secure future raises, according to Tray. “The current raise is not enough, and we will continue to fight for more,” he said. “The district needs to still reorder its priorities. If there are cuts, the last people cut should be teachers and paraprofessionals. Things and programs should be cut first.”

Tray explained that the district and the union will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss placing a measure on the February or June ballot aimed at raising funds to recruit and retain teachers in the district. “If we go the parcel tax route — and it could be funded through a sales tax,” Tray said, “it would be a modest property tax increase to go to two goals: significantly increasing educators’ compensation package and bringing resources into schools that would make them more attractive to prospective and current teachers.”

Tray explained that the measure, tentatively titled the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers Measure, would be a crucial means for staffing city schools, a difficult goal to accomplish because of the high cost of living in San Francisco.

According to Tom Ruiz, executive director of labor relations for the district, working with the union on a measure to secure future raises is a priority. “The district never dismisses their hardworking team members,” he said.