PALMDALE TEACHERS OK NEW CONTRACT SIX PERCENT RAISE NARROWLY PASSES IN UNION VOTE.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer PALMDALE -- Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. teachers narrowly approved a new contract that offers a 6 percent raise for the current school year and benefits plans that are less costly to the district. Teachers voted 371 in favor of upon the side of; favorable to; for the advantage of. See also: favor the three-year pact and 308 against, teacher union officials said. ``It was pretty close,'' said Hugh Estrada, president of the Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association, said after the vote last week. ``There were people who wanted to stay with the benefits the way they were.'' Some teachers also did not want to lose the so-called ``soft cap'' pay, the $5 dollars per student per day they received when their class size was above the set staffing ratio of 30 students per instructor. The district and union agreed to shift funds used for that purpose and apply it to the raise. Savings from less expensive benefits packages and more cost-of-living-adjustment funds coming from the state this year also helped in allowing the district to grant the raise. ``We have by approving the contract taken a step toward rebuilding trust and respect with the district,'' Estrada said. The teachers voted on the contract last week. The board is scheduled to ratify ratify v. to confirm and adopt the act of another even though it was not approved beforehand. Example: An employee for Holsinger's Hardware orders carpentry equipment from Phillips Screws and Nails although the employee was not authorized to buy anything. the contract at its meeting today. There are 1,050 teachers in the district. In contrast with the previous round of talks that ended with a yearlong year·long adj. Lasting one year. Adj. 1. yearlong - lasting through a year; "attending yearlong courses" long - primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or impasse im·passe n. 1. A road or passage having no exit; a cul-de-sac. 2. A situation that is so difficult that no progress can be made; a deadlock or a stalemate: reached an impasse in the negotiations. , negotiators from the district and the teachers union this year took three days of meetings to reach an agreement at the end of June. The prior impasse ended in January with a contract that offered no raise but removed language about limiting health insurance payments, which union members found objectionable in previous versions. The cost of providing health benefits also was a stumbling block stum·bling block n. An obstacle or impediment. stumbling block Noun any obstacle that prevents something from taking place or progressing Noun 1. the last time, but this time the union proposed health benefits packages that are less costly to the district and offer more choice to members. District officials said the district was getting about 6 percent in cost-of-living adjustments cost-of-living adjustment n. Abbr. COLA An adjustment made in wages that corresponds with a change in the cost of living. , compared with about 4 percent last year. karen.maeshiro@dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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