The Darien Times

RTM approves Darien teachers union raises

Written by David DesRoches
Thursday, January 26, 2012 12:00 PM

Darien teachers breathed a collective sigh of relief Tuesday night, after the Representative Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract with their union. The vote was 71-4, with three abstentions.

The contract includes annual salary raises of 1.26% the first year, 2.25% the second year and 3.41% the third year.

Wage increases also apply to coach stipends and curricular payments for club advisors. The new contract was approved by the school board in November, and it goes into effect July 1, 2012.

Teachers are paid based on years worked and education level, and a step system determines annual wages for each employee. The new contract included three additional steps, thus decreasing the incremental wages commensurately.

It should save the district some money in the short term, as the previous contract allowed for a 3.9% increase in teachers' salaries for the 2010-11 school year.

This year, the final year of the current contract, the district's expenses on salaries were projected to increase by 4.4%.

The minimum salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree is $45,344, and stays at that number for the next three years. The top salary for a teacher with a PhD, however, increases each year from $108,040 in 2013, to $110,470 in 2014, to $112,956 in 2015. There are 18 steps in the new system.

The contract also moves nearly all teachers into a health savings account program, and away from the current preferred provider organization, or PPO.

Teachers currently have the option to be on a PPO plan, but under the new terms, it appears only a small percentage of staff will be covered under a PPO.

Under the HSA system, the school would pay half the deductible, up to $2,000 annually, according to Dr. Stephen Falcone, superintendent of schools.

District 4 RTM Representative Jim Cameron, who writes a transportation column for The Darien Times and also volunteers for Ch. 79, voted against the contract.

"I love our teachers and our schools," Cameron stated in an email. However, every "other town department has been working on a zero-growth austerity budget for several years... But I have yet to see the Board of Education making similar sacrifices."

"The proposed teacher's contract calls for wage increases well beyond the cost of living, just as the previous contract did," Cameron said. "Everyone is this town is tightening their belts, so why can't our teachers?"

School officials have said the wage increases help them to secure and keep the best teachers and prevent them from seeking other employment.

ddesroches@darientimes.com

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