Pinellas teachers vote to approve contract

By KELLY RYAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 8, 2000

LARGO -- Pinellas teachers on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a contract that will give them their biggest raise in a decade.

The agreement between the teachers union and school district negotiators will give teachers an average raise of 7.7 percent in 2000-01. It passed by a vote of 3,028 to 814, said Jade Moore, executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association.

The average teacher salary will increase 6 percent, plus another 1.7 percent for two extra training days. The highest raises are at the beginning of the pay scale, where teachers will get an average 10 percent increase; teachers in the middle will get an average 9 percent; and teachers at the top will get an average 6 percent.

New teachers will earn $28,800, and receive a one-time bonus of $1,000. That's up from 1999-2000, when the starting salary for teachers with bachelor's degrees was $27,000. That increase is designed to make the district more competitive as it recruits 500 to 700 new teachers for the fall.

The agreement, union leaders said, also includes improved health care benefits, a promise to provide mentors for teachers and a pledge to try to reduce paperwork for special education teachers.

Also this week, the other labor unions that represent the district's employees -- including bus drivers, food service employees and other support personnel -- voted to approve the contracts.

"It was a very good teacher contract and a very good margin of approval," Moore said. "And we're pleased with the support for the support services agreement, too."

The turnout for Wednesday's teacher vote -- about half the county's teachers -- was typical, Moore said. Pinellas County has 7,400 teachers, and 5,000 are members of the union. All teachers can vote on the contract, even if they're not union members.

Overall, non-administrative employees, which include teachers and support staff, will receive average raises of 6 percent. Administrators will earn average raises of 5.5 percent. Assistant principals in middle and high schools will be paid to work 11 months, rather than 10. All principals will work 12-month schedules, instead of 11 months.

Now that the contracts have been ratified, they will head to the Pinellas County School Board on Tuesday for final approval. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at district headquarters, 301 Fourth St. SW in Largo.

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