Ithaca negotiators agree to return with salary grid after heated debate over step-and-lane and longevity bonuses

Ithaca City School District administrators and representatives of the Ithaca Teachers Association (ITA) spent the meeting debating competing salary proposals and agreed to reconvene after administrators prepare a concrete salary grid that fits the district's budget parameters.

The union delegation, led by ITA speakers, pushed for a step-and-lane salary structure with larger, front-loaded raises to address what they described as a teacher retention crisis. ITA presenters said their analysis shows the district has lost large numbers of educators in recent years and that a predictable step-and-lane grid — coupled with multi-year increases — would make teacher pay “competitive, attractive, predictable, incentivizing,” and reduce turnover. An ITA speaker said, “Step and Lane works. Let's make it happen.”

District administrators, led by Superintendent Dr. Brown, presented a counterproposal that would provide a 4% base…