Newport-Mesa Board, Teachers Agree on 3-Year Salary and Benefits Package

The Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District have agreed on a contract that sets salary and benefit levels for the next three years.

The total compensation package, which represents an 8.06% spending increase for teachers over the current school year, was agreed to by 92% of union members, said federation president Donald Kimble. The 8.06% increase includes a 5.27% salary increase for the 1991-92 school year, which would be supplemented for the next two years with a minimum raise equal to the cost of living plus 1%.

Under the new salary schedule, a starting teacher in the district will make $24,753. The top salary that a teacher can make is $50,000, if he or she has earned a master’s degree and has 28 years of teaching experience, said Tom Godley, assistant superintendent of budget, facilities and personnel.

Kimble said that this new settlement marks the first time that the district and union have settled on salary amounts for more than a one-year period. He said he hopes the three-year pact will help to keep teacher morale high.

Another feature of the new contract is a clause for a mandatory raise if the median salary of Newport-Mesa teachers does not rank among the top three districts in the county, Kimble said.