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NYC teacher contract includes back pay, bonuses, and sexting rules

NYC teacher contract: New York and its largest teachers' union struck a deal on a new contract Thursday, ending a nearly five-year labor dispute and potentially setting a template for negotiations with the city's other unions.

New York City and its largest聽teachers聽union struck a deal on a new聽contract聽Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced, ending a nearly five-year labor dispute and potentially setting a template for negotiations with the city's other unions.

Teachers聽will receive back pay equivalent to nearly聽8 percent of their聽salaries and a series of additional small raises through聽2018 under the nine-year聽contract.

The聽contract聽will offer bonus pay for well-reviewed聽teachers聽and aim to save the city聽$1 billion in health聽care costs over the length of it, an important point among city negotiators wary of the budgetary strain caused by rising health care costs across the municipal labor force.

De Blasio insisted the agreement is being funded within the city's current budget framework and called it a victory for taxpayers.

"This agreement will be a gateway to great progress in our school system," he said at a news conference.

The deal, which revamps the聽teacher聽evaluation system and could lead to longer school days at some schools, is the first major labor agreement struck by de Blasio, a Democrat who took office in January, and could affect negotiations with the other nearly聽150 city labor unions, all of which have been working with expired contracts. The United Federation of聽Teachers,聽one of the most聽powerful unions in the city, represents 100,000 teachers聽and other school employees who have been working on an expired聽contract聽since 2009. New York's public school system serves聽1.1 million students, by far the largest in the country.

"We were creative, we were smart, we were respectful, and聽teachers聽now have a fair deal going forward," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

The new deal will not become official until it is voted on by the union's members and the Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella group of unions.

The UFT, which long pushed for retroactive raises, will receive聽4 percent raises for聽2009 and聽2010, the figure provided to other unions during that time by de Blasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg. The money will be paid over the next several years.

Teachers聽also will receive one-time聽$1,000 ratification payments. There is at least聽one year in which聽teachers聽will not receive back pay.

Going forward,聽teachers聽will receive a series of incremental annual raises, totaling聽10 percent by the聽end of the deal. They will receive聽1 percent from聽2013 to聽2015, then聽1.5 percent in聽2016, 2.5 percent in聽2017 and聽3 percent in聽2018. The deal expires in October 2018, nearly a year after de Blasio faces voters again.

Retroactive raises have long been at the center of the聽contract聽negotiations, which became a significant issue during the mayoral campaign last year.

Bloomberg, a Republican turned independent, had said the city could not afford retroactive raises for all unions, which could total up to聽$8 billion. Many of the unions ended negotiations in recent years, preferring to wait for a new mayor who might have warmer relations with them, and all of their聽contracts聽had expired by the time Bloomberg left office.

De Blasio is a close ally of unions and all but fawned over Mulgrew at the press conference, painting a clear image that times have changes since Bloomberg's term. But he has expressed wariness about the city's ability to afford retroactive raises for all unions. Other municipal labor leaders are anxiously eyeing the UFT negotiations believing they could establish baselines for future negotiations.

"Anytime you're getting retroactive payments, it's pretty important," MLC chairman Harry Nespoli said.

But other unions, including the rank-and-file police union, said聽contracts聽with years that don't contain back pay are unacceptable.

City workers do not contribute to their health care costs, which will not change in the new deal. The administration and the UFT have set a goal of reducing heath care costs by聽$1 billion, but few specifics have been offered to achieve that.

The de Blasio administration suggested that the health care cost-control measures would save a total of聽$3.4 billion by聽2018 if applied to聽all the city's unions. Carol Kellerman, head of the non-partisan Citizens Budget Commission, said she was concerned about the health care savings being realized but the聽contract聽"appears to be relatively reasonable."

The聽teachers' deal also addresses several hotly debated education issues. It will provide an additional聽$5,000 annual bonus for聽experienced聽teachers聽to stay in schools in underserved neighborhoods and provide a new bonus structure, featuring payments ranging from聽$7,000 to聽$20,000 a year, for highly rated聽teachers. The聽teacher聽evaluation system will be simplified from聽22 criteria to eight, which should cut down on time-consuming paperwork and lead to more accurate ratings, Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said.

The system, which incorporates student test scores, principal observations, and other data, will help in determining the bonuses.

The聽contract聽also will change the guidelines of the ongoing debate over the 1,000聽teachers聽still being paid even though their jobs have been eliminated. It the deal is approved, dismissal proceedings will begin against poor-performing聽teachers聽who are twice removed from classrooms by principals.

The deal also toughens the standards against聽teachers聽behaving inappropriately against students, now making inappropriate texting, particularly of a sexual nature, an offense that could warrant firing. It also will increase the number of parent-teacher conferences and allow principals in聽200 schools to make聽sweeping changes, including lengthening school days and school years.

Associated Press writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.

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