Dear Commons Community,

New York City and the public school teachers have reached a tentative deal on a new union contract that includes raises of 2 percent in 2019, 2.5 percent in 2020 and 3 percent in 2021.  The agreement announced yesterday between the City and the United Federation of Teachers also includes extra pay for positions that are hard to staff.

Under the deal, up to 180 schools that have struggled to retain teachers will be able to pay $5,000 to $8,000 extra for teachers in hard-to-staff positions.  This is a significant new provision of the contract and the first time that there will a differential pay scale for some teachers.

The contract also includes plans for a new screening test to determine whether prospective teachers are psychologically suitable.

The contract covers 129,000 workers. They include 79,000 teachers plus guidance counselors, social workers, paraprofessionals and school psychologists.

Before finalized, the contract has to be ratified by the rank and file UFT membership.

Tony