Detroit Public School Teachers Ratify 3-Year Contract With District

DETROIT (WWJ) - It's a done deal for Detroit teachers!

Detroit's Public School Teachers have ratified a new three-year-contract with the district that calls for a seven-percent salary increase over the first two years of the deal. Three-percent the first-year, followed by a four-percent increase in the second.

Detroit Federation of Teachers President Ivy Bailey says she knew the vote -- which was 515 in favor, 474 against -- would be close.

"As I have always said and I'll continue to say, it's not what we deserve but we've got to move forward. The superintendent has been speaking about teacher salaries, and I'm going to hold him to his word that he feels we should get paid a higher salary than the suburban districts because it's a three-year contract. On the third year there's a wage re-opener -- if Dr. Vitti is true to his word, in that third year, we should all be real happy," said Bailey.

In a written statement, Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said the salary increases associated in the current deal "are far from what teachers deserve."