By KATHERINE PETERSEN
While the high school teachers' union and district are still embroiled in salary talks for the 1996-97 year, teachers recently made their first pitch for a raise in next year's contract.
The Fremont Education Association proposed Jan. 14 a one-year deal that calls for its teachers to be paid the highest salary of any staff in the state.
According to the union's latest figures, Los Angeles Unified School District has the highest-paid teachers, with a top salary of $70,000. The highest salary locally comes in at $54,000 for teachers who have a masters degrees and have taught in Fremont Union schools for 28 years, said George Gredasoff, president of the FEA.
For the current year, the union is seeking a one-year contract with a 10.5 percent pay hike.
The district has negotiated for a three-year deal and does not embrace the idea of a one-year plan.
Gredassoff said the union would oppose any multi-year contract that did not contain guaranteed raises for the second and third years and capped teachers' medical benefits.
The 400-member FEA would be willing to negotiate second- and third-year salaries, but would like to settle on compensation for 1997-98 school year first.
Discussions over raises for the following two years should be based on that negotiated salary, Gredassoff said.
But Trustee Frank Pelkey favors the three-year contract the district has proposed.
"We've been negotiating since last March, and they're ready to start over again. Negotiating takes a lot of administrative time, and it's expense to the district," Pelkey said.
He feels the district's 7.05 percent offer is fair and puts teachers in a favorable comparison salary-wise with other districts in the area.
"We see no reason we shouldn't have a three-year contract. A three-year contract leads to stability, and the community expects our schools to be stable," he said.
That stability can't be accomplished as well with a one-year contract, Gredassoff added.
Gredassoff argued that higher salaries will attract new teachers and recognize the higher quality of education that exists in district schools.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 29, 1997.
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