Teachers union OKs contract

Top paid teachers in the district will make about $63,000 a year.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- The Canfield school district and its teachers have agreed on a contract.
Superintendent Dante Zambrini said the teachers union ratified an agreement Monday, and the school board approved the pact Wednesday at its meeting.
The contract calls for a two-year extension of contract language, Zambrini said, with pay raises of 2.5 percent for the 2006-07 school year and 2 percent for 2007-08.
Zambrini said that a five-year average of raises, including the new contract percentages, is 1.95 percent.
He said that is a reasonable figure.
"I will take on anyone to compare increases," Zambrini said.
"Our teachers and staff have families to support, and it's only reasonable to give them an increase to provide for their families," he said.
The district never entered into any formal negotiations with the union; the Canfield Education Association pact expires Aug. 31. Zambrini said the CEA came to the district Feb. 8 with a proposal for a one-year extension with an increase in base pay.
Zambrini said the district countered with the two-year proposal about three weeks later.
Pleased with agreement
Don George, CEA president, said that of 117 members who voted Monday, 110 voted yes. He called it a "win-win" for both sides.
"The membership appears very satisfied," he said.
Zambrini also called the pact a win for the district. "We appreciate the cooperation of the teachers," he said. "Now we can get on with the business of teaching."
There are 200 certified employees in the district. Starting base pay for teachers is now $29,982. Under the new contract, it will increase to $30,732 and $31,347.
The highest paid teachers, those with 27 years' experience and a master's degree, will make $62,079 in 2006-07, Zambrini said. They will make $63,321 in 2007-08.
Contracts with three other unions in the district are also expiring this year. They are with the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, on June 30; the Teamsters, also on June 30; and the Canfield Bus Drivers Association, on Aug. 31.