South Bend teachers getting 4 percent raises

By MICHAEL WANBAUGH, Tribune Staff Writer

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Sep 2, 2008 at 10:40 PM EST

Story Updated: Sep 2, 2008 at 10:46 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — The city’s public school teachers have a new contract, putting a final period on a negotiation process that dates back almost 20 months.

Trustees of the South Bend Community School Corp. voted 7-0 Tuesday night to approve the new two-year deal that gives teachers a 4 percent annual raise for this school year and 2 percent retroactive raises for last school year.

There is also no reduction in benefits for teachers.

The board vote was quick and did not foster any discussion.

“I’m just glad it’s settled,” school board President Sheila Bergeron said afterward. “I’m comfortable with it as long as we can afford it. (Administrators) say we can. I wish we could afford more.”

The school corporation and National Education Association South Bend have been locked in negotiations since early in 2007.

By the time the previous contract expired on Aug. 15, 2007, the two sides hadn’t even gotten close to financial proposals.

The negotiation dragged on throughout the 2007-08 school year as teachers worked under the terms of the previous contract that was negotiated back in 2005.

That contract gave teachers 1 percent annual raises.

Still, both camps were optimistic a deal would be reached by the end of the school year. That didn’t happen.

Instead, former Superintendent Robert L. Zimmerman, whom the NEA-South Bend supported, was voted out by the board. Interim Superintendent James Kapsa took over.

After a marathon bargaining session that lasted through the night, the two sides shook on a deal on Aug. 7, less than a week before the 2008-09 school year was to begin.

NEA-South Bend President Carolyn Peterson said that much of the contract’s language they were negotiating hadn’t been revisited for decades.

As a result, the negotiation required more time than past negotiations.

“There were a lot of contract language issues that hadn’t changed for 20 to 30 years,” Peterson said. “So many of those things were addressed ... and updated.”

More than 800 teachers voted to ratify the agreement last week at Washington High School. The school board’s vote makes it official.

Perhaps the most dramatic change to the contract involves the establishment of a sick leave bank for teachers.

If a teacher exhausts his or her personal and sick leave days, they will be eligible to apply for an extension of sick leave benefits up to the point the corporation’s long-term disability kicks in.

Both Peterson and Bergeron said they hope the next negotiation will go more quickly.

The new contract expires in less than a year, so the two sides will be back at the bargaining table in a matter of months.

But for now, everybody is more than happy this negotiation is in the rear-view mirror.

“We’re pleased,” Peterson said. “I think our membership is pleased and it’s nice for both sides to have this behind us and start the school year fresh.”

Staff writer Michael Wanbaugh: mwanbaugh@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6176

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