INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Public School teachers are getting the biggest pay raise in the system's history.
At its Tuesday evening meeting, the IPS board approved two-year contracts for teachers and staff.
"IPS is committed to ensuring our employees receive the best compensation possible to bring employees in line with market rate," said Superintendent Aleesia Johnson. "While we're not where we want to be, we are moving in the right direction and will continue to push to reward our employees for the remarkable work they do to support the students and families of the district."
One contract is between IPS and the Indianapolis Education Association, representing teachers. The other is with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents custodians, food service, transportation and other workers.
The district is spending about $31 million on the pay hikes. The money to do this comes from additional tax dollars approved by voters in last year's referendum.
A first-year teacher would make $45,200, up from the current $42,500. In the second year of the contract, first year pay jumps to $47,800. A new model will be used to figure yearly raises.
"The IEA is very appreciative of Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and the IPS Board of School Commissioners for keeping the promise to increase compensation and benefits with the referendum monies from the November 2018 election," said IEA President Ronald Swann. "We, the certified staff and IEA members, supported IPS in this endeavor to pass the referendum that was presented to the community to increase teacher funding and are grateful to see substantial pay increases for all teachers."
For employees represented by AFSCME, pay increase will be between 1.4% and 7.4%.
The raises are expected to go into effect by the end of next month.
