Top pay for Detroit teachers could increase under tentative deal

Detroit's most senior teachers will get a 4.3% pay raise next year under a tentative agreement announced Tuesday.

Teachers with less seniority will receive smaller raises, though it's not clear exactly how much.

Detroit Public Schools Community District includes about 4,000 teachers.

The teacher contract doesn't expire until next June, but the raises were negotiated through what's known as a wage reopener, according to the Detroit Federation of Teachers.

The deal still must be approved by the membership.

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If approved the deal, would:

• Increase the maximum salary in Detroit schools to $73,000 from $65,265
• Increase starting salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree to $38,500 from the current $35,700
• Pay a $1,500 bonus to all teachers
• Give a 3% pay raise to staffers other than teachers including  ed techs, attendant agents, substitutes, special instructors and academic interventionist

Supt. Nikolai Vitti said the tentative deal is an effort to make the district more competitive for teachers and better for students.

"We are fighting every day to make our teachers the highest paid in America and strategically stretching our limited and inequitable resources to make that happen in a way that is fiscally responsible so our district never faces the financial disasters of the past," Vitti said in a statement. "Although we have a lot of work to still do to make our vision for teacher pay a reality, I am proud that we are building a legacy of increasing teacher pay in Detroit."

Vitti added that the district's efforts will "hit a ceiling without revenue increases."

School board president Iris Taylor the deal is responsible and sustainable. 

“This sets the stage for a strong summer of recruiting teachers and families for our third year of reform," she said in a statement.

The deal does call for merit pay, a controversial topic that is now required by state law, and one that the union has opposed in the past. 

"The individual merit based opportunities will focus on literacy and math at the K-8 level, including English as a second language teachers," Spokeswoman Crystal Wilson said. "here will also be a merit based bonus for all faculty and staff members at schools for improving student achievement. We are working out the details with DFT."

Wilson said the merit pay will be based on student growth.

In the 2017-18 school year, the average teacher salary in Detroit was $57,997.

Detroit teacher pay ranked 229th out of Michigan's more than 500 districts and charter schools.

Among Wayne County school districts, only the Harper Woods and South Redford Schools have lower average teacher salaries than Detroit.

Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. On Twitter @jwisely