By Taylor Kelley
Circulation Manager
On Feb. 10, the MBUSD Teachers’ Union reached a contract agreement for the upcoming school year.
The final contract included the rate of pay being increased by 2.5% each year in agreement with any negotiated growth in the salary plan; additionally, a 2.5% “off schedule” one-time payment based on the employers’ 2020-21 gross salary was bargained.
“We are glad to be able to provide an ongoing increase to salary as well as a one-time increase in recognition of all of the extraordinary work that has been done to provide our students with high-quality, in-person instruction while also navigating the lingering impacts of the pandemic,” said MBUSD Deputy Superintendent Dr. Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard.
According to Costa History teacher and Vice President of the Teachers’ Union Bargaining Committee Aaron Kofahl, another main topic of conversation during the agreements was the protection of teachers’ rights to take “academic risks” in the classroom, ranging from new lesson plans to non-traditional activities.
“We want to make sure we protect due process for teachers,” said Kofahl. “There are a lot of complaints being levied about teachers right now, especially in terms of what we teach as it connects to prevalent social problems of our time.”
The contract’s primary aim, according to Kofahl, is to increase salary equity between middle school and high school teachers. Since middle school teachers teach seven periods per day to Costa teachers’ six, the new contract offers a 20% compensation for the additional time in their workday.
“We [the Teachers’ Union] are taking steps to make sure that the quality of instruction and the treatment of our staff at the middle school is more fair,” said Kofahl. “Our big thing right now is working on parity with the middle school.”
Additionally, language was added to the MBUSD Civility Policy to send to “poorly behaving members of the community” in order to preserve safety in the workplace.
“There’s language in the current agreement about how to handle parents or other community members who are aggressive or inappropriate to our teachers,” said Costa English teacher and Teachers’ Union President Shawn Chen.
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