After months of heated rhetoric, the Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers union have reached a tentative agreement calling for gradual class size reduction and a 6% raise retroactive to last July, sources on both sides of the negotiations said Monday.
The settlement is part of a three-year contract, but the salary increase applies only to the current school year -- which means negotiations on next year's pay package are already just around the corner.
"I'm very happy that we have reached a tentative agreement, and we're able to provide teachers with a salary increase, as well as student-centered class-size reduction programs," said school board President Marlene Canter.
That sentiment was echoed by A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles: "It's an excellent tentative agreement overall. It's good for teachers, it's good for the district, but more importantly, it's good for the children of Los Angeles."
News of the settlement filtered out Monday evening, although there was talk all weekend that the two sides were close. Sunday's marathon negotiations stretched well past midnight into Monday morning. Perhaps the first confirmation came in an automated phone message from Duffy, which went out Monday night -- even as Duffy was telling reporters that talks were ongoing.
Both sides agreed to withhold details of the settlement until a joint news conference today, but details trickled out from both sides.
If ratified, the settlement would increase the top salary of L.A. Unified teachers to more than $80,000. The average salary would rise from roughly $60,000 to about $63,700.
Salary wasn't the only major issue in dispute. For months, teachers also had been talking about reducing class size, and under the agreement, sources said, the school district has agreed to lower class sizes gradually over the next three years.
The school system already takes part in the state-funded 20-to-1 student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through third grades and limited reductions in other grades. The proposed deal, which must still be ratified by teachers, will focus on the remaining grades, said a source.
For their part, negotiators for the school district were never entirely persuaded about the union's commitment to lowering class size -- because every gain in that arena took money off the table for a salary increase.
