In preparing for negotiations, school board members and administrators are often inundated with tables, charts, and other data associated with the negotiations process. One of the central documents to successful negotiations is the district’s salary guide. NJSBA’s labor relations team has many resources that can be of assistance while negotiating with the teacher’s union. The NJSBA’s salary guide assistance is a dues-based service that is included as part of each board’s annual membership.
How can a salary guide construction help the board with negotiations?
A salary guide constructed by the NJSBA can help the board by providing an additional tool to bargain with the teachers’ union. Rather than blindly accepting a salary guide put together by the teachers’ union, the board will now have a professionally designed salary guide to counter the unions’ proposals and achieve board staffing goals.
What is the benefit for the board to have a salary guide constructed even during a non-negotiating year?
NJSBA works with districts on improving the current salary guide even when it is not a negotiating year. This allows the board to see the various options available for when negotiations begin. It also gives the board the opportunity to work on setting goals for the next round of negotiations. For example, many districts reach out to NJSBA for assistance in developing salary guides with an equitable distribution of increments among both junior and senior staff members to allow the board to remain competitive in attracting potential employees.
How does our district get started with salary guide construction by NJSBA?
Reach out to our department administrative assistant, Gina Cuciti at gcuciti@njsba.org or (609) 278-5219 to begin the process. Once all formatted paperwork is received, a member of the NJSBA Legal and Labor Relations Department will be assigned your district, and will work hand in hand to create useful salary guides.