The Vancouver Education Association ratified a contract with Vancouver Public Schools over the weekend, officially marking an end to monthslong negotiations that narrowly avoided a teacher strike.
Union President Jamie Anderson said while the deal is a strong step for its classroom teachers and special educators, there’s still much work to be done to ensure class sizes can remain manageable amid budget reductions and increased student needs.
As a result, the contract was met with “lukewarm support” from members, she said.
“It’s not as strong of support as it’s been in the past,” Anderson said. “Class sizes are still really big, uncomfortably so for a lot of buildings. Until we see some relief in that area, no amount of money can make it better given increased workloads and concerns about safety.”
The union’s bargaining team struck a tentative agreement with the district Aug. 24 and spent last week reviewing the 132-page contract before passing it on to the union’s full membership Thursday.
Despite bargaining sessions creeping up to the end of the previous contract, which expired Saturday night, the union never voted to authorize a strike. Anderson picketed with teachers when the union last went on strike in 2018. She felt her members weren’t keen to strike this time with the school year already underway.
“Once people get into their classrooms and get started, they don’t want to leave even if it’s for a potentially greater issue,” Anderson said. “That timing is tough.”
While the contract has been approved, Anderson will continue to have conversations with Superintendent Jeff Snell and other district leaders in the coming weeks as enrollment across school buildings stabilizes. She will push for further reevaluation of class sizes and staff placements.
A district spokesperson was not available for comment by Tuesday’s press time.
Contract details
A big theme across the contract is the protection of teachers’ collaboration and preparation time. In recent years, as student behavioral issues have increased and staff have been expected to display more flexibility in teaching styles, much of this time has fallen to the wayside.
In several sections, the new contract helps staff avoid situations in which teachers or special education staff are “involuntarily transferred” to different classrooms or programs, instead deferring to volunteers first.
Maintenance of manageable class sizes is also key to workday stability for teachers. The approved contract largely maintains class levels outlined in the union’s 2021-2024 contract.
Kindergarten classes will be capped at 24 students and be limited to 22 by 2027; first through third grades will be capped at 25 and limited to 24 by 2027; fourth and fifth grades will be capped at 28 and lowered to 27 by 2027.
Teachers will be paid an extra $9 per student per day should classes exceed those limits. Overload pay, Anderson said, was a big issue for her members — who said that they would prefer an absolute cap or hiring additional staff instead of additional pay.
Lots of language around special education was also changed to ensure that students with individualized education plans are prioritized in the event of staffing changes. The contract also gives special education staff more designated time throughout the week to coordinate teaching approaches with regular classroom teachers.
“So many more students have qualified for special services over the last few years. That placed a huge workload burden on teachers providing those services,” Anderson said. “We saw a lot of big wins for special ed. Getting additional time to be built in for case management, reduced staffing ratios for psychologists and other members.”
Union members are guaranteed their salaries will increase every year of the contract based on an inflation metric that adjusts salaries of public officials annually. The third year of the deal will also include an additional raise to be negotiated in the future.
The base salary for a new VEA member with a bachelor’s degree in the 2023-2024 school year was $54,471. The proposed base salary for a new member with the same qualifications in the 2024-2025 school year would be $56,486.
Anderson said salary is something she would’ve hoped to see more improvements on, but that her bargaining team found that it might be an issue best saved for the next session in 2027.
“I think we’ll have a better footing in a few years to come back and bargain around salary now that these other things that cost the district money have sound footing,” she said.
