10 YEARS AGO

July 29, 2006

By an almost unanimous vote, more than 300 members of the Classroom Teachers Association on Friday approved a proposed teacher contract with the Little Rock School District that will give teachers pay increases of 3 percent to 5.6 percent for the 2006- 07 school year. The teachers’ approval, with only one “no” vote, helped diffuse a volatile negotiating season that some feared could have ended in a teacher walkout. Among the disputed terms were pay raises and the issue of merit pay, which has divided association and district leaders during much of the 2005- 06 school year. Negotiating teams with the district and association under the guidance of a federal mediator reached a tentative agreement Thursday. Under the proposed contract, the percentage of teachers required to pass a merit- pay and other alternativepay plans at a school has dropped from 75 percent to a simple majority.