Martha’s Vineyard Schools Superintendent Richie Smith expressed gratitude Thursday night for the negotiated contract settlement between MVEA and the school committee.

With back-to-back votes Thursday night, resolution to a contract impasse between the Martha’s Vineyard Educators Association (MVEA) and All-Island School Committee was formalized. In its first vote, the all-Island school committee approved a new three-year teacher’s contract for Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools. No committee members voted against the new contract, and only one member, Amy Houghton, chair of the Tisbury School committee, abstained, citing a conflict of interest because of a family member. 

The centerpieces of the contract are a new salary schedule, which includes cost-of-living (COLA) increases, and step changes. The contract provides for a 2 percent COLA increase in the first year, a 3 percent increase in the second year, and a 3 percent increase in the third year. Inadequate COLA compensation — set against the expensiveness of life on the Vineyard — was the leading complaint of MVEA. The contract also eliminates some lower steps and adds higher steps.

Gina Patti, one of MVEA’s three presidents, later told The Times the value of the step changes is twofold. Eliminating lower steps allows new teachers to start with a higher salary than they previously did, she said. The addition of higher steps adds more value to the time put in by veteran teachers who otherwise can plateau in what they earn, save for COLA adjustments, in little more than a decade, she said. The contract also provides a one-time $1,000 bonus for educators, and enhances longevity and professional development.

Ahead of the agreement, the negotiations initially went to mediation and then to a process called “fact-finding” before the deal was struck.

“This was a long journey to reach agreement,” Martha’s Vineyard Schools Superintendent Richie Smith said. “I was in the fortunate position to work with both our school committee employer group and our teacher group, and I am extremely grateful for the work that was done on both sides — a lot of passionate, committed people. And fortunately, I think both sides really wanted to make sure we reached agreement, and saw the longer we waited, the worse it felt, frankly.”

In a second vote, the committee also approved a three-year contract for education support professionals (ESPs). That contract also included COLA increases: 2 percent for the first year, 3.25 percent for the second year, and 3.25 percent for the third year. There were no dissenting votes for the ESP contract. High school and Tisbury School committee member Jennifer Cutrer abstained, citing a conflict. Her husband, Tisbury select board member Roy Cutrer, works at the school.

Tisbury and high school committee member Michael Watts said the agreements came after “a lot of negotiation sessions and a lot of mediation sessions,” and being on the brink of arbitration, which he described as “not a good pathway for either of the parties.”

Watts said he believed the best agreement is one where everyone walks away “slightly unhappy, because that means you probably reached the agreement you were going to reach.”

12 replies on “School committee endorses new three-year contract”

  1. The article should have provided what the new steps are under this contract. That would give the community an idea of the teacher’s compensation. It would also be a good idea to let the community know the cost of the pensions for teachers. Outside of government almost no one gets a pension these days. What’s the actual compensation including all benefits?

    1. What do you believe is proper compensation for people who are required to have Masters degrees, maintain professional licenses, and complete coursework/professional development each year? If I was a babysitter, I’d make $20 an hour for one child. With 18-20 kids per class and 5-7 classes a day, that comes to about $360,000 per year for 180 days. Additionally, I’m expected to impart knowledge upon them, not just babysit. I can I assure you I don’t make anything near that amount.

      We are highly educated, comparable to lawyers and accountants. Are you also offended by their rates of pay?

      1. My taxes do not pay lawyers or accountants but my taxes do pay for teachers. All we were asking is to really see the compensation that teachers receive which is never laid out in print anywhere for the public to digest. John is correct in wanting to see facts so we can make our own decision. mostly in these discussions the children are not even considered it is always about the teachers and their benefits. just try firing a bad teacher good luck, unions have ruined the education system. Let’s not forget these are nine month jobs when we look at the numbers.

        1. Bob, no you don’t pay lawyers and accountants salaries but you do pay for teachers, congratulations, you and everyone else in the US pay taxes to support education. Teacher salaries are public, look them up and you will get all the information you need, oh wait, you want someone else to get you that information. Believe me Bob, if the teachers don’t advocate for themselves about their livelihood who will? Will you? Of course the children are considered, they are considered by the teachers, the very people you believe don’t deserve their raises. Walk into a classroom, a gymnasium, onto a playing field, a theatre, a lunch room, an art room, the students are the only thing that teachers think about, they think about them all day so you don’t have to. Gail is right, read her post closely. The value you get for your dollar when it comes to teacher salaries is far above what you actually pay.

        2. Don’t we see all of this information, to an extent, with school budgets? I have no problem with people seeing them. They can also see the agreements of the police and fire departments, to be fair, right? I work “overtime” every day, for which I am not compensated, unlike police and other town employees. Additionally, this actually has a great deal to do with the kids. If we can’t entice good teachers to the island and pay them appropriately so that they can pay off student loans for their extended education for the required Masters degrees and for housing and a high cost of living here, we can no longer hire teachers. We have burned through the local supply and don’t have adequate staffing already. It took 3-4 tries to get a music teacher at the Edgartown School. Our new one just arrived last week, thankfully. Did you know 50% of teachers quit within the first 5 years? And that rate is pre-pandemic. It’s probably higher now. Additionally, less people are opting to become teachers, which is odd considering everyone thinks it’s pretty cushy. Contrary to popular belief, we do not get out at 3 nor have summers off as we have to do required coursework, prep for the coming year, teach summer school, act as fundraising advisors, etc. And we are, in fact, paid for 9 months. We can just opt to be paid through the summer. Additionally, with the evaluation system we have, it is not as hard as you think to remove a bad teacher. Regardless, we are lucky enough on this island to have excellent teachers overall.

          Without an adequate education system, the entire community suffers from a lack of an adequately educated public. Without an adequate contract, we can not hire good teachers. Without good teachers, kids can’t learn. If kids don’t learn, they don’t pass required standardized tests. Without passing required standardized tests, we don’t get additional Federal and State funding. It’s a trickle down. It’s worth it. As always, I’m happy to discuss the topic with anyone who wants. Have a great day.

      3. Using hourly rates for babysitting as the basis to justify teacher salaries and benefits seems silly—a way to sideline a reasonable question concerning the actual pay and benefits burden on taxpayers while avoiding specifics.

        Babysitting used to be done by teenagers who had no qualifications except common sense and willingness and ability to feed and entertain a couple of children in the family’s home for a few hours and basically make sure they were safe.
        The babysitting rate when I was a preteen and teen was 50c/hour.
        According to an inflation calculator, the inflation factor since then is 9.71.
        So a reasonable hourly rate for babysitting by a teenager today would be $4.85!
        If “babysitting” is now considered “daycare,” the latter of course requires more qualifications and skills.
        Just sayin’!

        1. When my daughter babysits, she gets a minimum of $20 an hour. And you’re right and made my point. I agree it’s silly to compare. I’m far more skilled and educated than the average teenage babysitter. Thus, I deserve better pay.

          1. Gail, thank you for your thoughtful and articulate responses. Teachers do not receive the respect, compensation and recognition they deserve.

    1. 102K average is not that bad considering the pension. Yes they pay into a pension but what the amount they have paid in is usually exhausted within 12 years then taxpayers are on the hook for the rest of their retirement. Considering that even after 30 years of teaching many teachers can retire in their late 50’s, early 60’s. Generally speaking that leaves taxpayers paying for more than 10 or 15 years of the teachers retirement. Should we pay them more in order to attract the best and brightest? Absolutely. I’d have no problem paying $150k a year with no pension. The unfunded liability of these pensions ( and those of other municipal employees) is going to crush local towns’ budgets. The unfunded liabilities in Massachusetts is $191 billion! https://www.thecentersquare.com/massachusetts/massachusetts-lags-in-one-nationwide-analysis-of-unfunded-pension-liabilities/article_d5f8c362-f3fb-11ec-bbf3-df676416a708.html

  3. Teachers couldn’t possibly be paid what they are worth, but shouldn’t they be paid enough so they can own their own home and be able to put enough aside for a comfortable retirement? All public servants deserve that.

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