After months of negotiations and calls for change, the Rockwood School District accepted a proposal from the district branch of the National Educators Association (RNEA) for an increase in salary schedules. The tentative agreement, which plans to increase salaries by 10% over the next two years, will be discussed by the RNEA Negotiations Team and Executive Board on Mar. 4 before being put to an RNEA wide vote. For educators across the district, the decision seemingly puts a close on the battle for higher wages that began last October.
THE TIMELINE
In fall of 2024, the RNEA and the district began to negotiate on behalf of the district’s staff members. The district and RNEA’s three year agreement from 2021 was about to expire, so the groups met to update the agreement’s terms. RNEA president Thomas Cook said that the approach they take is meant to foster more collaboration than traditional bargaining techniques.
“Interest-based bargaining is supposed to be more collaborative, where you look at the question– so for example, how do we continue to recruit and retain highly qualified staff? Then the idea is that both teams, the administration negotiations team and the RNEA negotiations team, then brainstorm solutions, and then as a group, you use standards to judge the solutions and figure out which solution will work best for both teams and would be mutually beneficial,” Cook said.
They concerned a wide range of topics, including teacher pay, job-embedded professional development and consistent practices across school buildings. Negotiations took place Oct. 14-15, and both sides came to an agreement on every issue except for salaries and family medical leave. On Oct. 30, the district and RNEA went to 5 on 5 negotiations for those specific issues, but the district called an impasse to halt discussions. More 5 on 5 negotiations resumed on Nov. 6, but once again, no agreement was reached. Rockwood Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Dr. Kimberly Cohen, said that an impasse was reached because, even when the RNEA revised their request, it was still not a fiscally sound possibility for the district and could lead to other drawbacks.
On Nov. 19, the BOE proposed their final budget for the year, including the 12 percent raise over three years that the district had originally proposed; instead of accepting or denying the Board’s terms, the RNEA let their members vote on the proposal. The response was a resounding disapproval– out of 868 educators, 695, or 80.07 percent, voted no.
If an agreement is not reached between the RNEA and the district by the end of the school year, their current agreement states that “all provisions of the Current Agreement, including the existing salary schedule without step increases, shall remain in effect.” Cohen said that the district’s goal is to make sure a fiscally responsible agreement is reached that allows for teachers to receive a raise.
“The Board is legally bound by the existing salary schedule and cannot unilaterally implement salary increases,” Cohen said. “The last thing we want is for our teachers to receive a contract in March with a frozen salary and/or go without a raise in the upcoming year. Our priority remains reaching a fair and sustainable agreement that ensures financial stability while recognizing the hard work of our educators.”
THE FINANCES
Teacher salaries differ in each district based on years of experience and degrees held, with different “steps” on the salary schedule depending on the years of experience.
Out of the 3,372 educators employed by the district, 83 percent of them have advanced degrees. Cohen said the district intends on creating salary ranges that ensures the district continues to attract and retain its highly educated staff.
“Administration aims to create a salary schedule that is competitive enough to attract and retain high-quality educators,” Cohen said.
However, Cook says that in the current job market, refusing to meet the RNEA’s raise request puts the district in a vulnerable position when it comes to bringing in new educators and keeping experienced ones within the district.
For science teacher and Summit RNEA representative Laura Ney, there are many things about the district that make her love her job here. However, she said she must work towards higher wages in order to stay in the district.
“I want to stay here with my Rockwood Summit family. I have never felt so accepted and loved in a job and never felt so much fulfillment from working,” Ney said. “I am passionate about teaching, but at the end of the day, it is a job, and I have bills I need to pay and financial goals to meet. It is not fair to myself to accept so little for the immense amount of labor I do. And when you are doing a lot of work, and not getting fairly compensated, you have to demand better conditions so you can justify continuing that labor.”
The district’s ranking among other St. Louis area school districts is a contested topic. Salary schedules shift based on years of experience and level of education– for a starting Bachelor’s degree salary, the district pays $44,240.
According to data that was provided by the RNEA and cross referenced with publicly available salary schedules on district websites, that places the district 20th out of 22 districts. However, data from the district paints a different picture, ranking the district 17th and reporting many districts’ salaries lower than their district websites suggest. The district’s salary data is sourced through an organization called Education Plus (EdPlus), which Cohen says is an industry standard for school districts to use.
“All districts utilize EdPlus during negotiations because it is sourced, meaning all school districts are required to input their data each year, directly from each school district,” Cohen said.
When it comes to the salary increases, pushback also arose due to the unequal distribution of raises. The district’s budgetary proposal included a 12 percent increase to the teacher salary budget, which did not equate to a 12 percent raise for each teacher. Instead, newer teachers received higher percentage increases, whilst more experienced educators saw lower raises. For instance, a teacher with a doctorate on Step 23 (or, with 23 years of experience), would receive a pay increase of 10.33 percent over the three years. On the other hand, a teacher with a Masters on Step 4 would receive a 13.76 percent increase in the same amount of time.
The district acknowledges that the 12% raise may not put the district at the midpoint of salaries in many cases but the district believes it is a strong move in the right direction. In addition, Cohen says that the district is working to improve its salary ranking through differently structured salaries as well.
“Rockwood School District acknowledges the need to become more competitive with teacher salaries. While we recognize that our starting salaries are lower compared to other districts in the St. Louis area, we are ranked at the midpoint for many salary ranges. To address this discrepancy, we have proposed a salary structure that includes a 5.25 percent increase in the first year, aiming to improve our overall competitiveness,” Cohen said. The district utilizes EDPlus to source their data and RNEA uses public salary schedules published on each individual school district’s websites. Data collected by the Talon is consistent with RNEA findings.
IMPACTS AT SUMMIT
According to Cook, the importance of higher wages goes beyond the educators who receive them.
If we can’t recruit and retain highly qualified staff, it could have an impact on the educational services that we can provide. When we are negotiating, we’re not just negotiating for ourselves, but we really are negotiating for students and the community,” Cook said.
For Ney, it is her love for the school community that has inspired her to keep working towards higher wages alongside the RNEA.
“I am fighting so that I can stay here at this school. I am fighting so I can keep working with my awesome coworkers and great principals. I am fighting so I can keep working with this amazing group of students. If we do not win, I may not be able to be here much longer,” Ney said.
As the negotiations lingered between the RNEA and the district, educators were vocal about the importance of higher wages. On Feb. 25, Rockwood Summit staff picketed along Hawkins Road before school. They held signs with messages such as “top results, bottom pay” and “respect for educators equals respect for education.” Educators across the district have held these Coffee at the Curbside events at their schools to raise community awareness of the negotiations. For Ney, having the teachers stick together is necessary for progress.
“Solidarity is extremely important. The foundation of a union is solidarity. By sticking together, we are more likely to be heard. I could stand outside of the school with a sign asking for better pay, but one person doesn’t make a statement and it is easy to ignore them. If everyone stands together it is harder to ignore us and we are more likely to have our demands met,” Ney said.
