Nearly 20% raises for NYC teachers in proposed deal

New York City public school teachers would get raises of nearly 20% — with minimum pay of $72,349 and $151,271 for the most experienced — under a five-year, $6.4 billion contract that awards permanent annual bonuses to discourage quitting and allows some virtual instruction.

Mayor Eric Adams announced the deal Tuesday with the president of the United Federation of Teachers, the labor union representing 120,000 education workers.

“This agreement today sends a real signal that public education is one of the most important things we do as a city and as a society,” Adams said at City Hall. “Because if you don't educate, you will incarcerate.”

The contract, which must be ratified by membership, would be retroactive, back to Sept. 14, 2022, and expires Nov. 28, 2027. The union made no major concessions, such as agreeing to extend the school year.

The retention bonuses will be paid in May of each year — $400 in 2024, $700 in 2025, and $1,000 in 2026 and every year from then on.

"And that goes on forever, in perpetuity," said the union president, Michael Mulgrew.

The contract would also reduce, by half, how long it takes for a teacher to reach pay of $100,000 — down to eight years on the job from 16.

It also includes a ratification bonus of $3,000, and establishes a "voluntary virtual learning program" under which teachers will be allowed to work "from locations that work best for their class." 

“The days of just the brick and mortar, being in the four walls of the classroom are over,” said the city’s schools chancellor, David Banks. “The world has changed and it is moving very, very quickly.”

Teachers will also be able to "remote work, remote in" and do virtual "parent engagement" on nights and weekends, said the head of Adams' labor relations office, Renee Campion.

The compounded wage increases are: 3%, starting each year on Sept. 14, 2022, Jan. 18, 2024 and Jan. 18, 2025; then 3.25%, on Sept. 14, 2025; and 3.5% on Sept. 14, 2026.

Lately, agreements with public sector labor unions have all ended with roughly similar increases.

In May, the MTA agreed to boost pay of transit workers in its largest union by about 3% a year. Ditto the city and the NYPD rank-and-file police union a month earlier. 

“It’s not a coincidence that a number of settlements in the last 6 to 12 months have had similar types of increases,” said the veteran negotiator Robert W. Linn, who held the highest labor negotiator posts under the mayoralties of Ed Koch and Bill de Blasio and separately represented cities across the nation as well as the MTA, Port Authority and others.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.