Elk Grove Unified agrees to raise teacher pay for another two years

The Elk Grove Unified School District board agreed Tuesday to give its teachers a 3 percent retroactive pay raise this school year and another 2.5 percent increase next school year.

The school board also agreed to increase pay by up to another 1 percent next school year if the district gets more money then expected from the state, according to the contract.

The deal affects about 3,100 teachers, counselors and nurses represented by the Elk Grove Education Association. Elk Grove Unified is the region’s largest school district with 62,000 students.

The school board unanimously agreed to approve the district agreement with the Elk Grove Education Association at its meeting Tuesday night, said board President Bobbie Singh-Allen.

“The agreement reflects a collaborative effort between the district and the association to address the district’s mission to ensure student achievement, to provide a fair compensation increase to the dedicated teachers .... and at the same time to meet the requirements of a fiscally responsible multi-year budget,” she said in a prepared statement.

The pay hikes are on top of annual “step-and-column” increases that teachers receive based on years worked and credentials.

The agreement ends a longtime practice of using California Lottery funds for teacher bonuses that amounted to about 1 percent of salary each year. Instead, 1.5 percent of the pay raises this year and next will come from permanently converting the bonus to a pay hike.

The raises will increase the school district’s $226 million payroll by $6.8 million this school year and $5.8 million next school year, according to information provided by the district.

Last school year, the district gave 2.7 percent retroactive raises to employees represented by the teachers union.

With more state funding available, many area school boards last year began offering raises as a way to offset furloughs, pay freezes and larger class sizes that began in 2009 due to the recession.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Elk Grove Unified agrees to raise teacher pay for another two years."