After months of back-and-forth negotiations between administrators and educators, the Tucson Unified School District governing board unanimously approved increasing teacher salaries by up to $14,550 a year.
The board also approved an additional measure that will adjust starting wages for other positions, in an effort to bring the district’s pay on par with the local market. Both measures were approved Tuesday and will take effect at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
“We are very excited today to come forward with a plan that we think will show how valued our employees are,” said Marisela Meza, the district’s director of employee relations. “We feel very confident that we’ve been doing our best to show we want to retain our employees and recruit in the future.”
The plan came together after months of negotiations between TUSD and the Tucson Education Association bargaining team.
The additional compensation for teachers includes two $2,500 stipends, one distributed in the fall and the other in the spring; a $2,000 increase to the supplemental base from the Proposition 301 fund, for a total of $7,600; a $500 salary increase and up to $1,450 in performance-based pay.
The same proposal will also grant classified employees a 2% salary increase and the two $2,500 stipends.
Some say they feel unappreciated
But with some emphasizing the phrase “Respect us, protect us and pay us,” several district employees spoke up during the call to the audience leading up to the board’s approval Tuesday, about how their current wages made them feel unappreciated.
Other people sat in the audience wearing their #RedforEd and school T-shirts in support of the employees.
“This is us all year … we’re here, we take care of your kids — 2,000 (students) — for $13 an hour. I don’t think it’s fair,” Nellie Rivera, a security worker at Pueblo High School, said as she gestured to her fellow school security guards standing behind her at the meeting.
Rebecca Bailey, a health assistant at Mary Meredith K-12, said she has worked with the district for 15 years and has been struggling to make ends meet with the $350 she takes home every pay period after her benefits are deducted from her paycheck.
Stephenie Carrasco, a paraprofessional and community liaison for Maldonado Elementary, said the low wages for paraprofessionals were unfair, particularly for those who have dedicated their service to the district for many years.
“I think that it’s very sad that paraprofessionals are currently paid only $13 an hour as we support teachers, students and staff as needed, when needed,” she said.
Raises for classified staff
The increases in wages for classified employees approved at the meeting are Phase 1, said TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo, and administrators expect to propose additional pay raises every school year.
Human Resources Director Renee Heusser said the district hired a consultant to conduct a study of the average starting salaries by other competitors in the local area, including school districts and local government entities.
She added that the study looked at the essential, classified positions with the highest vacancy rates — such as teacher assistants, facility technicians and grounds workers — to determine more competitive salary ranges.
The increases to those salaries will bring the lowest starting hourly wages (teacher assistants and campus monitors) from $13 to $15.05. The overall wage increases ranged from bumping up as little as $0.45 to as high as $4.83.
District officials said they would also make wage adjustments for veteran employees earning less than newer, less experienced workers. But the district did not provide specific examples.
While the measure was approved unanimously, board member Sadie Shaw said she was still embarrassed by the wage increases for the classified employees.
“I think we manage to pay some people very well, like our administrators, and other positions we pay very not well,” Shaw said. “I’m not happy to vote yes, but I will because it’s something.”
The rest of the board acknowledged there’s still work to be done, but said it was a first step in the right direction.
