Juneau’s teachers union has voted to approve a tentative agreement with the Juneau School District. The school board will decide whether to approve it on Friday.
The agreement would gradually increase wages, while also increasing district contributions to health premiums and time for elementary teachers to prepare lessons and grade assignments.
“We feel like there are enough wins in this contract that members should get a chance to voice their opinions on it,” Juneau Education Association President Chris Heidemann said when the agreement was announced last month.
The district and union reached the agreement in mid-April, but details weren’t public until it was sent to union members last week.
Though the agreement would increase wages for teachers, it’s not as much as the district or the union initially proposed.
The smaller wage increase allowed for a compromise on the district’s contributions to employees’ health premiums, a major concern for the union. The district’s initial proposal had cut its monthly contributions by more than $400, while the union had proposed increasing them by about $80 each year. The tentative agreement has a yearly increase of $10.
Other changes aim to improve the way teachers are compensated for working during lunch breaks. It would also increase prep time for elementary school teachers and allow special education teachers to request time to spend on paperwork.
Last month, the union directed teachers to work only during paid hours and not take on any extra duties before and after school or during lunch breaks.
The tentative agreement also establishes a workload review advisory committee made up of union members and district administrators. That comes as the Alaska Reads Act, which may require districts to increase reading interventions and testing, goes into effect on July 1.
“The committee will review new programs, initiatives, grants, curriculum, or changes to existing programs and their effects on JEA members/member groups,” the tentative agreement reads. “The committee will consider all of these and develop plans for implementation, to include problem solving where necessary.”
If approved by the school board, the contract will last until June 30, 2025.
