After weeks of negotiations, leaders of both parties in the state legislature announced a deal Thursday to raise teacher pay by an average of 9 percent over three years. The agreement, unveiled at a late-afternoon news conference in the Capitol rotunda, would lift starting salaries to $52,000 and add money for classroom aides, ending a standoff that had threatened to stall the entire education budget.
The announcement drew applause from a few dozen teachers who had gathered outside the House chamber wearing red shirts. Several held hand-lettered signs with the starting salary figure they had been pushing for since January. The final number came close, though not all the way, to what the statewide teachers’ association had requested.
What’s in the deal
Starting salaries would rise from $44,500 to $52,000 by 2029. The plan also adds $40 million for classroom aides in districts with the largest class sizes. Raises would be phased in over three school years, with the largest increase arriving in the first year.