New teachers contract hailed

June 16, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Call it collaborative bargaining.

When the Pittsburgh Public Schools and its teachers union began talks last year for a new contract, the tone was decidedly different from the usual collective-bargaining process. Tense face-to-face meetings, lawyers and demands were replaced with a weekend retreat at a downtown hotel, input from principals and teachers and discussions.

On Monday, the district and the teachers union ratified a new contract that both sides say was the result of a new way to do business. They hailed the five-year agreement as historic for its length and the inclusion of new incentives for teachers, including a pay-for-performance pilot program that could see eligible teachers pocket up to $8,000 extra a year.

“In a very strong union town, with a very strong teachers union, we were able to go into a process of being adults who are charged with a responsibility of improving student outcomes and treat that with respect,” Pittsburgh schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said Tuesday.

The merit-pay program is voluntary for current teachers at the top of the pay scale, which is about $77,300 for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree in the coming school year. For new teachers, the contract calls for a separate pay scale based on performance.

Called Empowering Effective Teachers, the plan was the basis for a proposal made last year to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation approved the plan and has given the district $40 million for efforts to improve teacher quality.

The district and union worked on the Gates proposal together and rolled that into contract talks.

“We approached this in a way where we sat down to resolve problems,” said John Tarka, president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. He said his two main objectives were providing stability to union members and improving the school district.

“It’s really, really easy to start a fight. That can be easy. Working together can be a lot more challenging and a lot more nuanced,” said Tarka, a former teacher.

The contract also includes annual pay raises for the district’s 2,900 teachers over five years, bonuses for schools that reach certain benchmarks and extra money for teachers who teach additional classes after school.

The pay-for-perform-ance program follows a few dozen of the country’s largest school districts that have adopted similar programs, said Emily Cohen, district policy director for the National Council on Teacher Quality.

“Traditionally in the past, unions came [to the bargaining table] with their demands — salaries and benefits,” Cohen said. “That is changing. Unions are having to get on board with a lot of these reforms because that’s just the direction that the country’s moving.”

Pittsburgh’s new contract takes effect July 1.