School Board OKs Pay Hike for Teachers

Elementary school trustees have approved a salary hike that makes entry-level Oxnard teachers the best paid in Ventura County. Meanwhile, all employees in the district are getting a 6% raise.

The raises, approved unanimously by trustees Wednesday night, make the entry-level salary for a certified teacher $31,000, compared with $26,000 previously.

The salary hike comes at a time when hiring demand is high because of growing enrollment and class-size reduction, school officials said.

“We’re really pleased about this,” Supt. Bernard Korenstein said of the new salaries. “It was overwhelmingly supported” by both teachers and administrators, he said.

The raises capped weeks of negotiations between the teachers union and are retroactive to last July. The Oxnard elementary school teachers pay scale now rises to $54,780 for teachers with 12 years experience and $58,280 for teachers serving 27 years, officials said.