L.A. Unified Teachers to Get Salary Hike of 2.5%

Los Angeles teachers will receive a 2.5% pay increase, in addition to a 2% raise they received earlier this year, as part of a tentative settlement announced Tuesday by the Los Angeles Unified School District and the union representing about 40,000 teachers.

The district and United Teachers Los Angeles agreed to the pay raise at a seven-hour negotiation meeting Saturday, capping about a month of talks. The latest round of salary negotiations were called for in the initial contract, which teachers ratified in April by the narrowest margin in union history.

The additional pay hike is retroactive to July 1, pending the approval of both the seven-member school board and rank-and-file teachers.

Tuesday’s agreement comes after a week in which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa repeatedly attacked the union and school board, saying they are obstacles to reform, and called for control of the district.

Schools Supt. Roy Romer, United Teachers Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy and board President Marlene Canter said the mayor’s aggressive stance did not pressure them to reach a deal.

But Canter acknowledged “that it was a plus that we were able to do this amid all this chatter.”

Because the current contract expires at the end of June, district and union staff expect to begin negotiations again this spring.

The original agreement also included a provision for the district to pick up increases in healthcare costs to maintain teachers’ level of benefits through the end of 2006.

For this school year, the increased costs are roughly $40 million.

Under the updated contract, the minimum pay for a starting teacher will be $43,054 a year, said Linda Del Cueto, the director of the district’s Office of Staff Relations.

The maximum base pay will be $75,541. The average teacher salary will be $59,432. Many teachers earn above the maximum base by working additional assignments, such as summer school.

Romer said roughly half the money for the pay raise, which will cost the district about $100 million, will come from a reserve fund and savings that are the result of the district’s declining enrollment.

Funds for the remaining costs are expected to come as the district refinances some of its debt and from anticipated increases in state funding.

In a memorandum of understanding also announced Tuesday, union and school district leaders agreed to cooperate on a host of non-contract issues, including the hiring of an independent firm to investigate ways the district could reduce the cost and size of its central administration.

That effort will complement the recommendations expected to be part of an independent audit of the district to be released next month.

Throughout the negotiations, Duffy repeatedly called for large administrative and other staff reductions as a way to make more money available for teacher salaries.

Board members, Romer and Duffy hailed the agreement. The relatively short time it took to reach common ground, they said, signaled a renewed sense of collaboration between the district and union.

“We left [negotiations] saying, ‘Hey, we have a lot of work to do together ... we have a new atmosphere between the union and the district,’ ” Romer said.

“We need to be competitive in paying our teachers, if we’re going to continue to attract and retain teachers,” he added.

Duffy agreed, calling the negotiation process “spectacular,” and praised the district for addressing the non-contract issues.

His remarks contrasted sharply with those he made last week in a local newspaper in which he criticized the district’s salary offers and indicated that he might push for job actions, including the possibility of a strike.

In other actions taken Tuesday the board:

* Agreed to hold a special election March 7 at a cost of between $700,000 and $900,000 to replace outgoing member Jose Huizar, who was recently elected to the Los Angeles City Council. The election date must be approved by the council;

* Approved a $132-million contract to complete the Belmont Learning Complex. Now renamed Vista Hermosa, the high school has been plagued for years by environmental problems and poor district oversight. New blueprints include a complex plan to mitigate methane gas and hydrogen sulfide vapors found at the site of the former oil field;

* Agreed to a partnership with a nonprofit group that will serve as the fundraising arm of an arts high school to be built downtown.

Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has donated $5 million to help offset the costs of the Grand Avenue school.

Board members called for the nonprofit group to include the school principal, a parent and a district arts official on its advisory panel.