Local News in Brief : Newport Beach : Teachers to Vote on Pact Union Endorses

A yearlong stalemate appears broken in Newport-Mesa Unified School District, where teachers are expected to vote on a proposed three-year contract Friday.

The teachers’ union, the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, has recommended approval of the contract, which would provide a 5.5% pay raise for the district’s 750 teachers during the 1988-89 school year, with additional increases in the remaining two years of the contract open to negotiation, Assistant Supt. Carol Berg said Tuesday.

The contract also awards teachers a 4.1% increase for costs of health care and other benefits. A similar contract has been negotiated for non-teaching employees, Berg said.

“This contract represents give and take on both sides,” said Phyllis Pipes, past president of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers. “We’re very pleased that this contract has been worked out so that all of us teachers can return to our classrooms this fall and address our primary concern, which is teaching.”

According to Berg, the proposed contract would raise the entry level teacher’s annual salary to $20,974 and the highest-paid teacher’s salary to $44,653. The average teacher pay, not including fringe benefits, would be $36,500 under the new contract, Berg said.

Newport-Mesa Unified serves the cities of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.