Colleagues,
I wish to inform you that, earlier today, the RTA Representative Assembly voted unanimously to endorse the recently negotiated Memorandum of Agreement that extends our current contract for one year (2025-2026) with only two modifications: a 4% salary increase, retroactive to July 1, 2025; and a $2,500 Teacher Retention Incentive. The exact language of the Agreement is in the document attached below.
The only real change from the earlier agreement is that the Teacher Retention Incentive will be paid, in a separate check, on or before September 30, 2026 rather than at the end of June. To qualify for the incentive, teachers must be active on June 1, 2026 and remain active through September 15, 2026. Teachers who retire after June 26, 2026 are also eligible for the incentive.
Now that the Tentative Agreement has been endorsed by the RCSD’s Board of Education, and by the RTA’s Representative Assembly, it is no longer “tentative.” We can now resume bargaining for a multi-year successor contract to address the many important issues that still confront us.
For the past several years, more than twice as many RCSD teachers resigned during the school year than retired at the end of school year. As a result of this new agreement, the District may have a better chance to attract and retain teachers. Thus, the real winners here are all our students.
I want to commend our negotiations team for a job well done and recognize Superintendent Rosser and his team for their collaboration. Most of all, I want to thank you for your solidarity and unswerving support.
As always, if you have questions or need assistance please contact us.
Enjoy the remaining weeks of the summer recess.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President