District and teacher’s union agree to
5-year contract
Provisions include increased instructional time, benefit cost containment

The City School District of Albany and the Albany Public School Teachers Association (APSTA) have finalized a 5-year contract that will allow the district to increase instructional time for students and contain health benefit costs. The Board of Education unanimously approved the contract at its meeting on Thursday, June 21.

The contract runs through the 2010-11 school year, and is retroactive to the current 2006-07 school year. The deal was ratified by the 900-member union by a vote of 3-1 on June 18.

The contract calls for longer work day for teachers, which will lead to more instructional time for students. Beginning in 2007-08, elementary school teachers will work an additional 75 minutes per week, and middle and high school teachers will work an additional 30 minutes per day. This will result in opportunities for additional instructional time to be built into the schedule and increased teacher-student interaction.

In an effort to contain rising health care costs, the contract calls for an increase in teacher contributions to health care premiums, up to 15 percent in the final year of the contract. This is projected to save the district more than $1 million in the final year of the deal.

Salary increases average 3.53 percent in addition to previously agreed upon step increases over the life of the contract. Under the salary schedule, a teacher with a master’s degree in Albany would earn $43,396 in their first year.

The agreement also calls for teachers to log additional professional development hours during a time when the district is aggressively targeting improvement. At the elementary level, teachers will participate in three, 1-hour professional development sessions per month. At the secondary level, teachers will participate in an additional hour of professional development each month.

“This contract settlement has resulted in some significant accomplishments for the district, particularly strengthening instruction and containing benefit costs,” Superintendent Eva Joseph said. “We have extended the school day; strengthened professional development opportunities; set forth a fair and appropriate salary schedule that will allow us to maintain and recruit quality teachers; and alleviated taxpayers from a portion of the burden of rising health care costs.”

Albany Public School Teachers Association President Bill Ritchie agreed: “We have aggressive improvement plans, and are pleased with this equitable agreement that recognizes the hard work and the important role of the professionals of the Albany Public School Teachers Association play in moving our district forward,” he said. “The fact that it is a 5-year agreement promises stability in our qualified workforce as we continue to work to close the achievement gap.”

Board of Education President Teneka Frost said she was pleased at the agreement, particularly the elements that would help strengthen the educational experience for Albany’s students.

“Everything we do is on behalf of our students and their education, and this contract agreement is no different,” President Frost said. “We want to attract and maintain the best and brightest teachers to Albany to build relationships with our students, family and community as we move along the path of continuous improvement. We want to encourage our teachers to grow as professionals and deliver top quality classroom instruction. This contract allows us to do just these things.”