by Mark McDermott
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District and the Manhattan Beach United Teachers Association reached a contract agreement in which the teachers received a 6 percent raise and a one-time payment equal to 3 percent of their salaries.
The agreement ends a yearlong stalemate in which MBUTA and district negotiators met more than a dozen times. The district increased its offer from 5 to 6 percent and included a one-time payment as its “last and best offer” in May and MBUTA agreed in July.
MBUSD Board president Cathey Graves said the pay raise, which was applied to all the district’s collective bargaining group, reflects the value the district places on its employees.
“These agreements demonstrate the District’s commitment to all of its employees as well as the commitment of our employees to work positively and collaboratively with the District,” she said. “Everyone put in hard work to achieve this outcome and we want staff members to know they are valued and appreciated. Our teachers and staff are dedicated, and we are pleased with the progress made through recent negotiations.”
“All parties put in significant effort to reach this agreement,” said Superintendent John Bowes. “The support of the Board of Education and the overwhelming ratification by both unions speak to the success of these negotiations. We look forward to starting the 2023-24 school year on August 23 and are excited to continue our successes both inside and outside of the classroom.”
The teachers had previously sought an 8 percent increase. MBUTA president Shawn Chen, in an interview in late May, said that increase would simply make MBUSD competitive with other district in the region.
“Not many of our teachers, especially our new hires, can afford to live in the Beach Cities,” Chen said. “We have already lost many teachers to districts where they can make $10,000 more per year, and have shorter commutes.”
The pay raise is retroactive to July 1, 2022, when the previous MBUTA contract expired. ER
