Teachers’ union signs contract for 3.5% raise

The Huntington Beach City School District and its teachers’ union have ended nine months of negotiations and signed a new contract, officials said Wednesday.

Teachers will get a 3.5% raise this year, effective as of last July, Supt. Roberta DeLuca said. For next year, they will get a pay raise equal to any state funding to keep up with the cost of living.

The two-year contract, which is retroactive to last summer, lasts through July 2009.

Calls to officials with the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn. were not immediately returned.

Coming to an agreement got a lot easier when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a new budget proposal May 15 that had smaller cuts for education, School Board President Celia Jaffe said.

“There were less severe cuts than was indicated in January,” she said. “It changed our budget outlook by enough to have something that was more satisfactory to the teachers.”

Last year, teachers got a 6.5% raise, but they cried foul when principals and superintendents got an extra boost after the negotiations closed. Board members said they were just trying to keep administrators’ salaries competitive in the area.

The Huntington Beach City School District was the last in the area to finish negotiating with its teachers; Ocean View School District wrapped up in November with a 4% raise, and the Huntington Beach Union High School District’s current contract offers a 4.54% raise.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].