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By Kristin Collett
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association and the Milwaukee Public Schools have reached a tentative agreement on the 2005-07 teacher contract.
“This agreement is a victory for 6,200 teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools,” said MTEA President Dennis Oulahan. “It will boost the morale of our members by giving them the security of having a contract in place for the school year. We will be able to focus on what we’re here to do – educate children.”
“It’s a positive contract,” said MTEA member Andja Lalich of Stuart Elementary School. “It helps the teachers feel real positive about coming back to the classrooms. . . and kind of gets everyone on an excited track for the whole year.”
The agreement includes “across the board” per-cell salary raises for each semester in 2005-06 and 2006-07 with no changes in benefits. The salary increases are:
When all four raises are implemented, members will see a total salary increase of 4.83%.
In addition to salary increases, the agreement will establish three new, innovative programs.
Collaborative planning
The agreement on collaborative planning is the beginning of an attempt to foster a culture of professional learning in each school building. Teachers at each school will come together for 12 paid hours of collaborative planning time during the school year.
“Teachers spend so much time with their students in the classroom, and it’s difficult to find the extra time for professional exchange with colleagues,” Oulahan said. “We hope this provision will give educators the time they need to interact with one another on a professional level and learn together the best ways to help their students.”
Job sharing
After many years of attempting to reach agreement on a job-sharing model, the MTEA was successful in this round of negotiations with the MPS district.
For positions in areas of high need, such as special education, teachers will be able to split a full-time position. Each teacher will receive half pay plus full health and dental insurance benefits.
Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, 25 shared positions will be available to teachers currently on leave from the district.
In the 2008-09 school year, the applications will be open to all interested teachers for 25 high-need positions.
“Reaching agreement on job sharing is very significant,” Oulahan said. “Now, good teachers who want more flexibility in their work will be able to have that without sacrificing their own families’ security.”
MTEA believes the agreement will go a long way in attracting and retaining high-quality educators to the district who simply want more flexibility in their life to tend to other important responsibilities.
Mentoring and support for special education teachers
With the population of students with special needs approaching 20% in MPS, both parties recognized that there was a need to provide development and support to teachers working in this area.
With this program, new teachers who work with the most severe – “most restrictive placement” (MRP) – students will receive a full year of mentoring, professional development, and other support by joining a cadre of 10 other new MRP teachers. A total of seven cadres will be established in the first year of this pilot program.
Each cadre will work with a mentor who has had several years of successful MPS teaching experience in their special education area. The MRP teachers will also have opportunities for follow-up support from their mentor and cadre the second year.
Cadre meetings and training sessions will be held outside the teaching day – for up to 40 hours the first year, and 20 hours the second year. The teachers will be paid for the extra time.
“Special education is a challenging area of work. It’s not a job that someone can do in isolation,” Oulahan said. “All children, including those with special needs, deserve to have a teacher who is well-supported and prepared to handle the unique challenges. This program will help us develop and retain talented special education teachers for our students.”
Posted August 18, 2006