South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Board eyes ’13-14 teachers’ salary schedule

Two-year pact calls for hikes of 2.5 percent for each year

The Mehlville Board of Education is scheduled to consider the teachers’ salary schedule for the 2013-2014 school year when it meets today — April 25.

The school board will meet at 7 p.m. at the Administration Build-ing, 3120 Lemay Ferry Road.

Board members voted 5-2 last year to approve a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that called for teachers to receive a 5-percent pay increase over a two-year period.

Teachers received one step on the current salary schedule, per the MOU, “as well as approved channel changes for the 2013-2014 school year.”

In the certified salary schedule, channels denote a teacher’s level of education. Each channel also includes steps that represent each year a teacher has worked. Last school year, teachers stayed on the same salary schedule step as the 2010-2011 school year, which increased by $950.

The salary increase is, on average, a 2.5-percent raise per year as “teachers will be given one step on the schedule for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 contract years,” according to the MOU. In addition, the agreement states, “Teachers will be granted channel changes they have earned for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 contract years.”

The MOU was ratified by MNEA members last May with 93-percent approval.

Board member Ron Fedorchak and former board President Venki Palamand cast the dissenting votes on the MOU last year.

At the time, Fedorchak said he believed students lose with the agreement.

“One, we didn’t get 180 days (of instructional time) to get to the national average,” he said, “and then, secondly, we lost two and a half days going back to the old early release.”

Palamand said last year he could not support an agreement that gave a 5-percent raise over two years while decreasing teacher-student instructional time by two and a half days. He was defeated in his re-election bid earlier this month by Lori Trakas, the board’s new vice president.

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