Claremont Teachers at Top of Scale Get 11% Pay Raise

Teachers with the most experience and education could receive salary increases of more than 11% under a new contract between the Claremont Unified School District and the Claremont Faculty Assn.

The new pact was approved by the faculty association’s membership Jan. 13 and ratified by the district last week. It calls for a 3% across-the-board pay raise retroactive to Sept. 1, said Dena Graves, the school district’s business manager. Effective Jan. 1, the teachers’ salary schedule has been revised to provide greater salary increases for teachers at the top of the scale, Graves said.

Under the new schedule, the annual salary for a beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree will be increased from $23,816 to $24,838, a 4.3% raise. Experienced teachers with graduate degrees will earn $42,057 a year, an increase of 8.3%, Graves said.

With the addition of longevity bonuses, top-scale teachers with 30 years or more experience will now earn $45,047 a year, compared with $40,348 under the old contract, Graves said. Lillian Brown, president of the Claremont Faculty Assn., said the new contract will enable the district to retain good teachers.

“Ours was not a professional growth schedule,” Brown said. “While we might attract teachers, we couldn’t keep them. Now we’re competitive with other districts.”

The new contract also calls for a vote among teachers on the question of mandatory union dues for all teachers, regardless of whether they wish to join the faculty association. Under the “agency fee” proposal, all teachers would have to pay for union representation except those who object on religious grounds, and who would donate an equivalent amount to charity.