Details on Teacher Raises, and a Big Thank You

Dear 菠菜网lol正规平台 Colleagues,

On Monday we will welcome 14,000 of our TK-5 students to school buildings after a long and difficult year of distance learning. We eagerly anticipate seeing and hearing our little ones in person! 

I salute our entire team of employees for keeping hope alive for our students and their families during this pandemic, and for going the extra mile to help prepare our schools for a safe reopening. I hope you’ll also find encouragement in the details of the tentative agreements reached yesterday with the Teachers Association of Long Beach.

As mentioned yesterday, the tentative agreements include ongoing, one-time and retroactive salary increases for 2019-20 and 2020-21. For employees who are not represented by TALB, we will strive to uphold our tradition of parity on pay increases as we move forward, including as we continue to negotiate with CSEA.

Under the tentative agreements, TALB members would receive an ongoing salary increase of 1% for 2019-20, and an ongoing 2% increase for 2020-21. The 2019-20 raise is retroactive to July 1, 2019. The 2020-21 raise is retroactive to July 1, 2020.

In addition, qualifying employees would receive a one-time “off schedule” increase of 2% for 2020-21, retroactive to July 1, 2020.

As usual, the tentative agreements are subject to ratification by TALB’s membership, and then approval by the Board of Education.

Retroactive checks would be issued by June. The off-schedule check would be 2% of an employee’s annual salary from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, and those checks would be issued by the end of September.

The ongoing raises would be reflected on paychecks with the new fiscal year starting July 1.

Tuesday’s negotiation session also resulted in a finalized School Opening Memorandum of Understanding addendum regarding our return to in-person learning. Copies of that document and the tentative agreements will be shared once all signatures all finalized. 

As we start a hopeful new chapter in our school district’s long and proud history, these tentative agreements allow us to remain fiscally responsible while still providing tangible support to our employees, many of whom have endured one of the most difficult years of their lives. I acknowledge your perseverance and determination. You continue to be key contributors to our students’ success and well-being. I will be cheering you on as I visit schools Monday and well into the future.

With deep appreciation,

Jill

Jill Baker, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools