2023-10-15 09:04:29
BRIDGEPORT — City teachers will see a 17.49 percent raise over the next four years as part of an agreement that will also increase the starting salary for all new educators to more than $50,000 for the first time, according to school system and union officials.
The Bridgeport Education Association’s regarding 1,500 members voted Thursday to ratify the four-year contract, which is set to go into effect next summer. The vote came two days following the Bridgeport Board of Education unanimously endorsed the settlement.
Union President Jeff Morrissey said the agreement will go a long way toward improving working conditions for educators while improving teacher retention. He noted that of the nearly 250 educators who quit last school year, almost two-thirds had worked for the district for less than five years.
“This contract is a good first step in stopping the hemorrhaging of teachers leaving our urban school district for higher salaries in surrounding towns,” Morrissey said in a statement. “It recognizes the commitment of the city’s hard-working educators and all they do to support student learning, by increasing compensation for Bridgeport educators, making it more comparable to neighboring districts.”
New Superintendent Carmela Levy-David, who was not directly involved in the negotiations, also said the contract will help convince teachers to remain in their jobs and “invest in our kids.” She had previously publicly pledged to support higher pay as part of a strategy to hire new teachers and keep experienced ones on staff.
“For me, the goal was always to be able to provide our employees with a living wage that aligns with the rise of inflation and aligns with the high cost of living in the city of Bridgeport,” Levy-David told board members. “I want to make sure that for those that do choose to live in the city of Bridgeport, they’re earning a wage that makes them want to stay in Bridgeport.”
Under the agreement, the district’s certified teachers will see increases that average 4.37 percent per year starting in July 2024. The increases are expected to cost the district an additional $21.8 million over the course of the contract’s lifetime, according to Marlene Siegel, the school system’s chief financial officer.
Siegel noted the costs will be offset by an agreement between the union and district to increase the share teachers pay for medical and dental insurance. Teaches will contribute an additional 0.5 percent for both in each year of the contract.
“We aimed to increase salaries in accordance with the average increases in other districts and in so doing to create a competitive position for Bridgeport,” Siegel said.
Still, teacher pay in resource-starved Bridgeport will remain among the lowest in Fairfield County despite the wage hikes. Even at a minimum starting salary of at least $50,000, the city would rank last among the county’s 26 school systems during the 2023-24 school year, behind New Beginnings Family Academy and Easton, according to the Connecticut Education Association.
In the current school year, salaries range between $45,591 for teachers new to the job and $100,497 for veteran educators with advanced degrees. A recent study by the National Education Association found that the average teacher salary in the state was $79,742 during the 2020-21 school year.
Floyd Dugas, an attorney who participated in the negotiations on behalf of the school board, said the contract includes annual 2 percent increases to teacher stipends and hikes hourly wage rates for extra duties. The agreement also doubled the number of days teachers can take off to care for a sick family member from five to 10.
Dugas said the district was able to agree to the annual raises and increase in starting salary by eliminating the lowest salary steps, adding new ones and ensuring each employee advances up the step ladder every year.
“Frankly I wish there was more money to give to the teachers to help them out but I think it’s moving in the right direction, particularly in terms of the starting salaries,” Dugas said. “It was a collaborative process and I’m glad to say that we were able to reach it without having to hit each other over the head in binding arbitration.”
Like the last round of contractual negotiations four years ago, the recently approved agreement did not adjust the maximum class sizes that teachers must instruct. In grades 2 through 12, class sizes will continue to be limited to 29 students. For kindergarten and first grade, the maximum is still 24.
Dugas has said the City Council will have 30 days to reject the contract once the city’s clerk’s office receives the document. Otherwise, the agreement will become binding.
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