School district OKs new contract with teachers
Teachers in Davenport won’t be getting free memberships to the YMCA, and the school district won’t have more say over where their teachers work.
Instead, under a new teacher contract agreement for next school year, teachers in the Davenport School District will get an almost 5 percent pay increase, which will cost taxpayers an estimated $3.5 million. It also raises the salary for new teachers to $27,300, an increase of $560.
Those bumps in pay do not include the automatic raises teachers receive as they gain more years of experience and college credits.
In return, the district was able to “clean up” language in the contract and will have discretion over who is hired to be dean of students at its schools, said Julio Almanza, Davenport superintendent. Also, teachers will now have to take graduate courses that relate to what they teach if they want to be compensated for them.
“(Negotiations) went pretty smoothly and quickly,” said Jodi Tupper, president of the Davenport Education Association. “Both sides came out pretty equal and got what they wanted. We have no complaints with the settlement; we are very happy with it.”
School board members approved the teacher contracts earlier this week. The two sides entered negotiations in January. At the time, the teachers’ union said it wanted the district to pay for memberships to the YMCA, reduce the hours they work during parent-teacher conferences from 12 to 11 and keep classroom temperatures no lower than 68 degrees. Teachers did not make headway on any of those issues.
District leaders said they wanted to change the bidding system used to fill teacher vacancies. They wanted to allow principals to pick between the two most senior applicants when filling openings, rather than being required to hire the person with the most seniority.
Almanza had partly blamed the bidding system, which has been in place for years, for a disparity in teacher experience and educational attainment between high- and low-poverty schools in the district.
An analysis by the Quad-City Times last year found teachers at Davenport’s neediest schools have, on average, almost six years less experience than those at schools in more affluent neighborhoods. In addition, 47 percent of teachers at the poorest schools hold master’s degrees, compared with 59 percent of teachers at low-poverty schools.
Educators say students who come from low-income families are more at risk for failure because they most often face additional challenges. That’s why schools with a large number of poor students need the most skilled staff, they said.
Almanza would not say why the district dropped its request to change the bidding system. However, he said it is still a concern for school board members and principals.
“I will continue to find ways in which we have the right people in the right spots,” Almanza said. “I don’t believe that’s always a function of seniority. Not being able to select a good match for a particular program does present a problem for us.”
Superintendent’s contract
In addition to approving a new contract with its teachers, school board members this week signed off on an agreement with Julio Almanza, Davenport superintendent. Almanza, who is in his second year of leading the district, will receive an almost $7,000 — or 4 percent — bump in pay next school year. His current salary is $176,800.
Sheena Dooley can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or sdooley@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.