Oswego educators in union to get raise

Oswego teachers, speech pathologists, counselors, nurses and department chairmen will see a yearly raise for the next two years, but might be forced to take an unpaid furlough day.

On Monday, the Oswego School Board approved a two-year contract with the teachers union. In the deal, which the Oswego Education Association approved earlier in the month, the teachers agreed to a 1.5 percent increase in the first year of the contract followed by 2.3 percent in the second and final year. The union membership also agreed, if financially necessary, to take an unpaid furlough day during the 2010-11 school year to save the district approximately $290,000. The contract is slated to expire on June 30, 2011.

Under the union's previous two-year contract, employees got a yearly increase of 7.5 percent -- a 4.5 percent hike in wages plus a 3 percent step advancement. The district since hit a financial crisis as the economy killed the housing boom that fueled school funding.

"This (new) two-year agreement is an example of how management and the professional teaching staff can share their common interests and use their creativity and problem-solving skills to craft contract accommodations to which both parties can agree," said OEA President Dan Hoefler. "It is a contract that provides the stability that both sides sought."

Some OEA members may also receive additional salary increases ranging from 5 to 6.75 percent in recognition of their completion of graduate coursework or obtaining an advanced educational degree.

More than 80 percent of the union's 945 members voted for the two-year contract.