HIGHLIGHTS:

-  2-year agreement

-  Increased base salary to $45,500 this year and $46,000 next year

-  Restructuring of our former flat-increment salary scale to a percentage scale based on 2.7%. 

-  The scale compounds and rewards experience as teachers progress down the scale over time.  The scale will be capped at BS year 20 and MS year 27 for the term of this agreement.

-  All teachers will be placed on the step that correlates to their TOTAL years of experience (including years prior to WWS).  Teachers must work a minimum of 120 days in order to receive a full year of experience.

-  Going forward, all newly hired teachers will be given credit for previous years of experience and placed on the salary schedule appropriately to reward that experience.

-  Re-opener next year based on newly enrolled student numbers above 350.

PAY:

All teachers currently on BS level-B, MS level-B, or higher will receive at least a $2000 raise in either salary or stipend.

All teachers who are currently at BS level-A and have no prior teaching experience will receive a $500 stipend to catch them up to the new starting salary.

All teachers will be placed on the new Salary Table at the level that correlates to their TOTAL years of teaching experience (at WWS and prior).  This placement will result in many teachers receiving a significant pay increase.

Payment:

-  November 3rd - Last pay of current rate.

-  November 15th - Extra paycheck including all stipends and retroactive pay.

-  November 20th - First payment of new salary rate.

Language Changes:

-  Bereavement days - death of spouse or child - formerly 5 days, now 10 days

-  Personal Days - teachers may carry over up to 2 unused personal days to the following year, but not to exceed banking 5 years in any given year.  All other unused personal days will convert to accrued sick days per existing language.

-  Sick days - cap extended to 200 days from 180 days.

-  Parental and Adoption leave extended from 5 to 10 days.

-  Class Coverage - Hourly compensation given at 80% of BS-0 for covering another class on your prep or taking on 5 or more extra students who are not on your regular roster when another teacher absence is not covered.  Class coverage compensation will begin on Nov 1st and will not be retroactive to instances prior to Nov. 1st.

Other notable gains:

• The new salary table is percentage-based and compounds.  Because of this, teachers will see more aggressive salary gains over a shorter amount of time. 

• Prior to about a decade ago, teachers receiving a Masters Degree received a substantial pay increase upon degree completion.  Due to legislative changes at that time, only a vertical or lateral movement on the salary schedule was permitted (not both).  With this settlement, receiving a Masters Degree means BOTH a lateral and vertical movement on the scale again.  It may now pay for some to complete a Masters Degree.

Summary:

Rapid growth in the Westfield Community over the last year brought with it an unexpectedly large amount of funding due to a huge increase in student numbers (508 newly enrolled students).  This presented the Bargaining Team with a unique opportunity to fix much of the harm that legislative changes about a decade ago did to stifle the salary growth of our teachers. 

A few neighboring districts have adopted similar pay structures that pay their teachers for ALL of their experience.  Our doing the same thing not only is the right thing to do for our teachers, but it keeps us competitive with our neighbors. 

WCTA and the WWS Admin share a common goal of attracting and retaining the best teachers to be part of our team.  For the past several bargaining sessions, we have been able to address mostly the "attract" aspect of that goal.  This bargaining session was not only about attracting the best, but also REWARDING and RETAINING our amazing teachers.  This settlement rewards years of teaching experience and service, will attract both new and experienced teachers to join our fine teaching faculty, and gives hope to those just starting out in our profession by offering a good living wage over a shorter period of time.