Please read this letter of agreement regarding stipends for coaches for the United Special Olympics.

At the September DPSCD Regular Board Meeting, school board members voted to approve the tentative agreement which was ratified by members late last month. President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins and the negotiating team are excited about the 6% raise that bargaining unit members will receive, which is the largest increase in salary in 34 years. Other highlights of the agreement include

• Teachers with 15 years or more of experience will get a longevity bonus of $4,500. Teachers with less than 15 years of experience are to receive a $2,000 retention bonus.
• Ancillary Staff will receive a $2,000 bonus.
• All full-time DFT members are to receive a $2,000 bonus in November, while part-time members are to get a $1,000 bonus, in addition to the longevity and retention bonuses.
• All new hires will be on the salary schedule.

Read the entire document of the tentative agreement here: https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/096/060/original/DFT-DPSCD_2023-2024_Ratification_Packet_8.21.23_corrected.pdf

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.