3 large districts still negotiating

Three of the state’s six largest school districts will head into the 2016-17 budget year without a contract agreement with teachers. The immediate impact may be limited. Administrators and teachers’ unions in West Ada, Nampa and Coeur d’Alene plan to continue negotiating into July, or beyond. July 1 marks the beginning of the new budget year for districts across Idaho. And since salaries and benefits make up the biggest line item in a district’s budget, the master contract between a district and its teachers represents a linchpin of the budget. This year, districts have more money to carve up; the 2016 Legislature approved a 7.4 percent budget increase for K-12. Districts and teachers also have to agree on how to implement, or whether to implement, the state’s teacher career ladder. Districts don’t have to adopt the plan, passed by the 2015 Legislature and designed largely to boost pay for beginning and less-experienced teachers/ Kevin Richert , Idaho Education News. More here.