TEACHER PAY HIKE GETS OK, GOES TO BOARD 1% RAISE ON TOP OF PRIOR 6% HIKE.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- Palmdale School District teachers have approved a contract that gives them an additional 1 percent raise on top of the 6 percent pay hike they received last year.

Teachers voted 410-33 last week in favor of the new agreement, which makes the 1 percent raise retroactive to Jan. 1, officials said.

A contract approved by teachers and the district last fall called for a 6 percent raise retroactive to July 1 and an agreement to come back and negotiate.

"We came back to the table and agreed on a 1 percent increase," interim Superintendent Roger Gallizzi said.

The board of trustees will take action on the new contract in about two weeks.

With the contract, the salaries of teachers in the district will range from $34,238 to $74,621, records show.

The pact also created a new salary schedule for speech pathologists.

"The reasoning behind that was to attract more speech pathologists to our district and retain the ones we currently have," said Hugo Estrada, president of the Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association.

The salary range for speech pathologists is from $84,000 to $93,750.

"The salaries are highly competitive and meant to make sure that we have a fully staffed complement to serve our kids," Gallizzi said.

The district has more 1,000 teachers.

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