Newark Teachers’ Contract Would Bring 4.5% Annual Raises for 5 Years

NEWARK — The Newark Teachers Union and the district announced a tentative contract agreement on Friday that would give educators a 4.5% raise for each of its five years and bring the starting salary for teachers to $65,000.

“We felt the best way to get a contract that helps Newark students succeed and thrive would be to be partners, not combatants,” NTU President M. Abeigon said. “What makes this contract transformational and a model for other districts is that teachers will have a genuine voice in all aspects of Newark education, including having seats on committees that deal with instruction issues and district operations.”

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Superintendent Roger León said during a school board meeting Thursday night that the union membership is scheduled to vote June 6 on the contract's ratification.

“The president of the Newark Teachers Union has shared with me that he and the executive board of the Newark Teachers Union has, in fact, approved the contract, which has now triggered a ratification vote by its members with the building representatives supporting the vote to do so,” León said.

León did not share specifics of the agreement.

Officials said the new starting salary of $65,000 will be $74,000 in the fifth year of the contract, the 2029-30 school year. The tentative agreement also includes salary increases for non-instructional staff, substitutes and hourly pay employees, officials said.

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In addition to the 4.5% annual raises for five years, there would be additional increases for educators with master’s degrees or doctorates and for those who have put in more than 35 years of service, officials said.

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Included in the tentative agreement is language allowing teachers to select or even design curriculum, a provision that wouldn’t change during the year without educator buy-in, according to the NTU and school district.

“Teachers would provide professional development that matches the standards-based curriculum to ensure they understand what they will be teaching, negating the need to contract this out or buy off-the-shelf professional development,” the officials said.

The 4.5% annual raises follow the district and NTU’s agreement in 2022 to raise the annual starting salary for teachers in the district to $62,000.

In an interview in February, Abeigon told TAPinto Newark he is asking for the school district’s teachers to have the highest starting salary in the nation and better control over their working conditions. The national average starting teacher salary is $44,530, according to the National Education Association.

In addition to approval by the union membership, the school board would have to authorize the deal. It’s a proposed agreement that received praise from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

“This Newark tentative contract agreement is a transformative document charting out a cultural shift of educators and district officials working together on the educational strategies, policies and practices that will actually make a difference for students,” Weingarten said.

In the release, León expressed his support.

“Successful schools must have a culture of collaboration and good communication,” he said. “The NTU and district teams exemplified that during the contract negotiation process, and we fully expect it to continue over the next several years.”

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