Contract faces votes by Pittsburgh teachers, school board Hamlet says both sides satisfied

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The contract negotiated by Pittsburgh Public Schools and the teachers union is expected to face ratification votes in a few weeks.

Representatives for the schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers struck a tentative, threeyear deal late Tuesday after a marathon bargaining session with a state mediator. The teachers union had said Monday that it intended to go on strike Friday if no agreement was in hand.

The 11th-hour agreement averted a work stoppage this week, but the deal won’t be finalized until both sides formally ratify the contract. Details about the deal also won’t be released until then, district and union leaders said. The process could take a couple of weeks.

Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said before he spoke at a community meeting Wednesday evening at Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12 that he was confident the contract would be ratified.

“Every issue got resolved,” Mr. Hamlet said. “Each party is at a happy medium right now. We reached an agreement, so that means everybody has mutually benefited and we’re happy with what we have in place right now.”

The deals — one for each of the union’s three bargaining units — will first have to be approved by the union’s executive board. If the board approves it, ballots will be