Detroit teachers agree to contract

The Associated Press

DETROIT -- Striking teachers and the school board agreed Monday on a tentative contract that could end a weeklong walkout about reforms sought by the schools chief hired to turn the troubled district around.

Teachers could be back in school by Wednesday, and the district's 172,000 students would return Thursday, negotiators said.

"I'm going to recommend to the teachers that they accept this contract," Detroit Federation of Teachers President John Elliott said.

Teachers won agreements for smaller classes and raises of up to 4 percent, and defeated proposals for merit pay and longer school days, he said.

In one of the nation's biggest teacher strikes in recent years, Detroit students missed four days of class last week and would miss class again today.

The teachers walked out in defiance of a Michigan law that bars teacher strikes and fines them one day's pay for each day they strike. Legislative leaders had said they would move to seek sanctions against the teachers today.

The union, which represents 9,200 teachers, had been unhappy with proposals for a longer school day, merit pay, class size and other reforms administrators sought after the Legislature voted in March to replace Detroit's elected school board with one appointed by the mayor.

Similar school takeovers have been enacted in Chicago and Cleveland.

Schools in Detroit, the nation's 10th-largest city, have been beset by mismanagement and chronically low test scores, attendance and graduation rates, and the new chief executive, David Adamany, said the reforms were aimed at turning those trends around.

The original contract offer proposed merit pay raises of up to $3,000 a year to teachers with good attendance, three years of satisfactory performance, advanced coursework and national certification.

The union contended that the criteria for the merit pay system were unclear and could allow administrators to reward undeserving teachers.

Although the merit pay provision was absent from the final deal, Adamany said it could be implemented without union approval. He also said the contract gives the district tighter control of teacher absenteeism.

"We probably accomplished about two-thirds of the proposals for greater accountability in this district," he said.

The district also dropped its proposal to lengthen the school day from 6 hours to 81/2 hours. Teachers had said making classes smaller was a more important reform.

The new contract includes provisions for smaller class sizes starting during the 2000-01 school year for 44 elementary schools.

Elliott said teachers would vote Wednesday morning on returning to class, though the actual contract vote would be held later by mail and could take a week to 10 days to complete.

Last week, the teachers rejected an offer to extend their contract, spurning their own negotiators' recommendations and stalling the scheduled start of classes on Aug. 31.

On Monday, the teachers brought their message to the street, toting signs saying "No contract, no work" as they marched in the city's Labor Day parade.

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.