Union says teacher pay increase is lower than Tucson Unified said

The teacher pay increases that the Tucson Unified School District governing board approved last week are lower than the district advertised, says Margaret Chaney, leader of the Tucson Education Association.

Information presented by the district said teachers can receive up to a $14,550 annual increase during the 2022-23 school year.

By contrast, Chaney calculates it to be a $2,500 increase.

“I mean, we got a great deal. It’s just, to say that it’s a $14,000 raise, it’s a bit misleading,” Chaney said, adding that the union members were content with the compensation that was approved but data provided by the district was not an accurate interpretation.

The compensation package for teachers consisted of two $2,500 retention stipends, one each in the fall and spring semesters; a $2,000 increase from the Prop. 301 sales tax for education fund, for a total of $7,600; a $500 salary increase; and up to $1,450 in performance-based pay.

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Teachers also received the same retention stipends during the current 2021-22 school year, and they are not permanent increases to teachers’ annual salaries.

“The stipends are one-time money … You need real money that’s coming in regularly to show that it’s a raise,” Chaney said.

Also, the performance-based pay available to teachers this school year is a maximum of $1,500, the district said, meaning there is a small decrease and no increase in next year’s amount.

Another way the district might be coming up with the $14,550 amount, Chaney said, is by adding the total amount of $7,600 from the Prop. 301 money, rather than the actual $2,000 increase for next year.

TUSD spokeswoman Karla Escamilla declined to comment on the claims the presented data was misleading.