Teacher's Contract

Category	Explanation	Notes	Responsible-ed Comments
Working Days	196 Total Days 183 Instructional Days 8 days without students for professional development 5 days for classroom management—i.e. set up their classrooms; input grades etc.	Professional development days provide teachers with opportunities to learn new policies and procedures, curriculum, and pedagogy. Allow teachers to accumulate credit to meet State mandated professional development requirements.	Teachers are given the opportunity to “flex out” of classroom management days. We are currently trying to determine what this means.
Normal Working Hours	7 hours 45 minutes per day 30 minutes lunch 250 minutes per week without students to prepare	Friday hours are 7 hours 30 minutes
Professional Development Hours	13 days are 7 hours 30 minutes This time includes a 90 minute lunch		Teachers are on the job on these days for only 6 hours
Time for Meetings	Allows for three meetings per month for no more than one hour	Teachers are not responsible for preparation for any of these meetings	Meetings tend to be informational only. Lack of teacher preparation inhibits the possibility for collaboration which most professionals avidly pursue
Paid Time Off	3 Personal Days per year 10 Sick days per year—will accumulate 5 Bereavement days per year Sabbatical—allowed after 10 years and is for one semester—employee receives ½ salary plus full benefits	Written request for personal days is required 2 days prior. If personal days are not used may be added to sick leave.	Written request policy is rarely followed in USC Administration reports an average of 6 days of absence are used by each teacher per school year.
Unpaid Time Off	Disability—up to one year Maternity—up to one year Education—allowed after 3 years and is minimum one semester, maximum 2.	The contract stipulates that employees are guaranteed their same jobs on their return. To continue benefits employee must pay full premium cost.
Teacher Evaluation	Two processes used: First three years all teachers are evaluated every year in the following manner: · · 2 formal observations · Plus maximum of four walk-through observations per year Observations are conducted by administrator · After successful completion of three years employee may receive tenure Optional Supervision Model · Used all years for tenured employees except every 4^th year · Four walk-through observations per year. · Plus employee must complete a project during the school year of their choosing · Choice of projects are peer review, committee or curriculum activities, individual or group research projects, individual lesson study or individual goal setting related to the USC professional rubric.	Teachers have formal observations only every fourth year. It is not stipulated in the contract that formal observations include pre- and post-observation conferences. It is not stipulated in the contract which administrator will conduct these observations Walk-through observations in Traditional Model are not mandatory. The contract says only “up to four”.	Under the Traditional Model only two formal observations per year are allowed. This is an insignificant number in a teacher’s first three years especially since the district has tenure at stake. Walk-through observations are undefined and as such impossible to determine their value. Although the form to be completed includes meaningful benchmarks it is doubtful that significant evaluation can be made by peaking into a classroom. In the Option Model professional employees are allowed to choose their method of evaluation 75% of the time thus limiting supervision. Teachers are not formally observed for 3 out of every four years after they receive tenure.
Salaries	Year One of Contract: Step 1 with BA—38,400 MA—40,000 PHD—41,890 Step 15B BA—81,000 MA—84,950 PHD—89,632 (Salary increases between steps 1 and 15 are between $1000, and $1400 per step) Year 4 of Contract: Step 1 with BA—42,600 MA—44,200 EdD—46,090 Step 15B BA—87,493 MA—91,400 EdD—96,082 Step = Years of teaching	Teachers are placed on a step related to their years of teaching when they are employed by USC. There is a stipulated procedure for this in the contract. Generally speaking a step corresponds to years of service or experience. There are 15 steps in USC. Teachers top out after 15 years service. In four years according to this contract teachers are increasing their salaries with a formal review in only one year of the four.	Since teachers on this step program receive an automatic increase in salary due to an added year of service each year, this contract gives them a double bump. For example: For a teacher in step 4 of year one with a BA they are receiving $42,150 per year. The next year they will advance to step 5 which would have had them at 43,550, however with the new contract they will receive an additional bump to $44,300. This is an increase of 5% in just one year! By the end of the contract this teacher will receive $48,600 which represents an increase of 15.3% in four years.
Salary Comparison USC Mount Lebanon Peters Township South Fayette Moon Township East Penn (Emmaus) Baltimore County, Md. Fairfax County, Va.	Starting Salary with BA $38,400 $39,955 UNDER NEGOTIATION CHECK FOR UPDATES FREQUENTLY $39,300 $37,831 $40,000	# of Steps to Top Salary 15 18 UNDER NEGOTIATION CHECK FOR UPDATES FREQUENTLY 18 21 27	2006 Top Salary with Doc. $91,782 $89,807 UNDER NEGOTIATION CHECK FOR UPDATES FREQUENTLY $87,430 $74,134 $85,793
Benefits	Summary of benefits Deductible (individual/family)— None Lifetime Maximum— Unlimited Primary Care Physician— 100% covered Specialist Visits--$15 co-pay;100% covered Emergency Room—100% covered Ambulance--100% covered Hospital inpatient--100% covered Hospital outpatient--100% covered Physical Rehab--100% covered Maternity--100% covered Infertility Treatments--100% covered Medical/Surgical--100% covered Spinal Manipulations--$15 co-pay; 100% covered Diagnostic Services--100% covered Prescriptions--$5 co-pay for generic $20 co-pay for brand only if patient demands brand when doctor prescribes generic	Teachers can choose either a POS or HMO for Medical Coverage. Teachers in POS will pay full difference in cost between POS and HMO.
Cost of benefits	District pays: $390.00 per month individual $1,099 per month for family Teacher pays: $30 per month for individual $75 per month for family At higher pay scale teachers pay $15 or $25 more per month The contract stipulates that teachers pay 12-14% of cost increase each year.	Teachers pay around x% of premium for individual coverage and around x% for a family. ******	The contract increase of 12-14% of premium increase will hardly increase their portion of contribution. Average contributions by teachers in Baltimore County, Maryland are twice as high as in USC. Coverage is much less. Average cost of benefits for family in Allegheny County is
Tuition Reimbursement	100% for relevant courses taken for credit; up to 12 credits per year per employee	The district has a $100,000 maximum per year	Although it is true that professional development of this kind can be beneficial to the district, we believe it is also personally beneficial to teachers and that they should pay for at least 50% of their tuition. Additionally there is no stipulation in the contract that teachers remain at USC for any time after they receive tuition reimbursement. Therefore we have no guarantee that we will gain from their education. By comparison, Mt. Lebo does have a service requirement and payback schedule in case of voluntary employment termination.