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Council roundtable reviews tentative five‑year DCPS‑WTU contract; Jan. 7 vote set
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Summary
A joint roundtable examined PR 25‑1095, the tentative five‑year collective bargaining agreement between DC Public Schools and the Washington Teachers Union, focusing on retroactive pay, multi‑year raises, implementation committees and data-sharing deadlines; council action is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025.
A joint Committee of the Whole and Committee on Executive Administration and Labor roundtable on Dec. 20, 2024 reviewed PR 25‑1095, the tentative collective bargaining agreement between District of Columbia Public Schools and the Washington Teachers Union Local 6 that would run Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2028, and is slated for a Council vote on Jan. 7, 2025.
Jacqueline Pope Lyons, president of the Washington Teachers Union, told the committees the five‑year tentative agreement ‘‘is fair for educators and good for students’’ and reported the union membership ratified the deal with a reported 96% yes vote. Lyons outlined key provisions she said members backed: four weekly morning planning blocks for teachers; a contribution of 10,000 hours annually to a WTU sick‑leave bank; two paid wellness days (one full day and two half‑days where schools are closed for teachers and students); parental leave protections that preserve 10 sick days before parental leave runs; workload protections for related service providers; memoranda of agreement on climate literacy and staff diversity; and compensation adjustments.
The contract includes a FY24 4% retroactive bonus and a multiyear raise schedule the witnesses summarized as a 2% increase for FY25, 3% for FY26 and FY27, and 4% for FY28. The Chief Financial Officer’s fiscal‑plan estimate referenced in the hearing was $238,900,000 to support the contract’s multi‑year cost. Lindsay Maxwell, identified in the hearing as director of the Office of Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining, said the negotiated documents and pay schedules were compiled and verified before submission to the Council and described the deal as ‘‘historic’’ for its five‑year term.
The roundtable focused less on the bargaining outcome than on implementation details. Councilmembers pressed witnesses on timelines for committees, mandatory trainings and data sharing. Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee said DCPS will prioritize meeting with the WTU in the new year to sequence implementation and will provide updated hiring and retention data to the union; he told the committees that data the WTU requested by Oct. 1, 2024 had not been delivered and said DCPS anticipates providing the updated data by February 2025. Ferebee also said DCPS will issue calendar updates reflecting wellness days and the four morning planning blocks in advance of the affected school years.
On retroactive pay timing, Maxwell said the contract specifies that all retroactive payments will be made within 120 days after Council approval. With the Council intending to act at its Jan. 7, 2025 legislative meeting, that timeline frames when members could expect retro payments and salary adjustments to be processed.
Councilmembers repeatedly raised the ‘‘impact’’ evaluation system, which Lyons described as having been found in research to be biased against Black and brown teachers and a factor in retention challenges. Ferebee disagreed with Lyons’s characterization of outcomes from the system, citing higher reported retention rates and saying the district continues to refine evaluation tools. Both sides expressed interest in convening collaborative tables or task forces to examine evaluation practices and to build trust in how feedback and data are used.
Committee members also asked about classroom coverage and substitute availability. Ferebee said DCPS has grown its substitute pool and fills roughly 80–85% of requests, will continue to tap retirees and paraprofessionals, and wants to improve school‑level record‑keeping to ensure accurate accounting and compensation when staff cover classes.
On workforce development, Ferebee said DCPS is collaborating with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education on a teacher apprenticeship program to expand ‘‘grow‑your‑own’’ pathways and to recruit paraprofessionals into certificated roles.
The hearing record was left open for additional submissions through noon on Dec. 31, 2024. The committees will bring the resolution to the Council for consideration at the Jan. 7, 2025 legislative meeting; if the Council takes no action, the resolution is deemed approved on Jan. 15, 2025, per the filing noted in the hearing.
