Public schools across the Island have reached an agreement for a new, three-year contract for teachers and other union staff, which includes higher salaries and, for the first time, paid family leave.
The contract, which is expected to go into effect on July 1, and last until the summer of 2028, was reached through negotiations between the teacher’s union — the Martha’s Vineyard Educator’s Association — and the All-Island School Committee, which issued a joint statement after reaching the agreement.
“This contract was reached after extensive research, open dialogue, and a commitment to compromise,” the statement reads. “Both committees worked diligently to present relevant data, listen to one another’s perspectives, and ultimately find a solution that benefits both the educators and the broader community.”
According to those involved in the drafting of this contract, this year’s version was far less contentious than the prior round of negotiations in 2022. During that time, coming soon after COVID lockdowns and remote teaching, Island teachers held protests, and signs in support of the union were installed along Island roads and in yards. The top concern at that time for school faculty: higher wages that match the cost of living.
The new 2025–’28 contract provided a 3.5 percent salary increase for each year of the contract for top-step employees as a cost-of-living adjustment.
“These changes are designed to ensure that our teachers are fairly compensated and retain competitive salaries in the broader educational community,” the committee said in the statement.
In the first year of the new contract, the yearly salary at the bottom step depends on the position, but averages to $86,739. And the top step will be increased to an average of $121,618, with cost of living adjustments the second and third years. By 2028, the highest paid employee could be making $147,538, and the lowest, $82,871.
“We are all doing the work of supporting our students, our children … and our school staff for what we feel are fair wages,” superintendent of schools Richie Smith said in an interview with the Times.
The new contract also discards two lower wage steps for entry-level employees, making salaries more competitive. Top-step employees are the highest paid, but sit at the same wages for sometimes years at a time, with no increase available. It’s only through employee contracts like this one that salaries can rise, and since the contract lasts three years, it usually includes a step increase. The last contract in 2022, however, did not.
And this time around, public school officials looked at teacher salaries in other comparable districts across Massachusetts in order to bring the Island wages up to comparable amounts. Their goal was to bridge the gap between the high cost of living on the Island and pay.
“When we look at what we pay, we don’t fall short, [but] when we look at percentage increases, I think that this new contract puts us in that same category [as districts throughout the state],” Smith said.
And public school employees expecting a child — through pregnancy, surrogacy, or adoption — will be afforded paid parental leave, a landmark decision that already had ripples in town discussions in Chilmark recently. While the town of Chilmark voted the proposal down in a tight 2-1 vote, select board members have said they’re open to providing family leave to town employees.
For Martha’s Vineyard public school staff members, however, paid parental leave will be afforded for two to four weeks, depending on how long they’ve been working at the school.
“Parental leave will be increased by day over the next three years of the contract,” Smith clarified. “I believe it’s the right thing to do.”
