Federal Way Public Schools approved its preliminary collective agreement with the Federal Way Education Association at the school committee meeting on Tuesday. JEROD YOUNG, the mirror The agreement approved by the school administration corresponds to a temporary correction. The district`s biggest obstacle is the Washington State Legislature. On Monday, October 14, the Fort Wayne Community Schools Schools Board of School Trustees approved a two-year agreement with the Fort Wayne Education Association (FWEA), which represents teachers in the district. For now, thanks to this new agreement, educators and auxiliaries in federal public schools are receiving an urgent increase in compensation. After the approval of the agreement by the district, the FWEA and the district will finalize the language and establish the final official contract within the next two weeks. “I want to congratulate the entire team, both FWPS and FWEA, for their efforts and long hours at the bargaining table to reach a final agreement,” Dr. Tammy Campbell, superintendent of Federal Way Public Schools, said in an email. “Together, they have established a cooperation agreement that will allow for a salary increase that our employees desperately need, while allowing us to achieve the goals of our strategic plan.” The Council of Ministers of School Affairs also approved a 2.5% salary increase for the 2019-20 school year for employees who are not represented by collective bargaining groups, including staff at headquarters and regional councils. The agreement also states that support employees will see a 6.36 percent increase in hourly wages applied to the 2016-17 pay schedule and a one-time bonus of $227.25 that they will receive in November. The Federal Public Schools School Administration approved the one-year deal on Tuesday. “The future of wages in Federal Way will be different,” McCann said. “Collective bargaining and wages are limited.
In fact, the legislature said they would leave the federal way behind. Despite a preliminary agreement, there is still a long way to go before Federal Way employees see a significant pay change. The Federal Way Public Schools and the Federal Way Education Association have reached a preliminary agreement on a compensation package for district staff. The new contract provides for a two-year pilot project to pay teachers to cover classes to address the shortage of substitute teachers. Starting October 1, 2019, teachers will receive $50 for four hours of teaching coverage if they cover another classroom during a programming period or if principals welcome additional students into their classes due to the absence of another teacher. “It`s very mysterious and arbitrary, in terms of the formula that was applied to Federal Way,” McCann said. “This is a disservice to our community for educators and students.” However, both the district and the FWEA agree that more work can and should be done for educators, both at the national and local levels. Federal schools are suffering from what Shannon McCann, president of the Federal Way Education Association, called a “regionalization factor.” FWCS and FWEA entered into a two-year contract from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021. In the first year of the contract (school year 2019-20), teachers` base salary increases by 2.5 percent, bringing the teachers` pay margin between US$40,078 and US$70,891 per year.
The base will increase by 1.5 percent in the second year of the contract (school year 2020-21), increasing the annual pay margin to 40,679 to 71,496 $US. “The borough has long been committed to ensuring our teachers are compensated competitively,” Campbell said. “Unfortunately, the passage by the Washington State legislature of a funding factor for wage regionalization makes it extremely difficult for us to compete in our region, because once again we will receive less funding than many of our surrounding school districts.” In addition, licensed teachers (those who are considered effective or very effective) will advance a series on the salary plan, which provides for an increase of $1,175. . . .