Pittsburgh Public School Board Approves 3-Year Contract With Teachers' Union

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PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh school district has approved a three-year contract with its teacher's union, formally ending a lengthy impasse that nearly led to the city's first teacher strike in 40 years.

The school board approved the deal Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers had overwhelmingly approved it last week.

The agreement, culminated after a lengthy bargaining session in late February, ended a 19-month bargaining impasse. It came shortly after the teachers union announced its members would go on strike, affecting about 25,000 students.

The union represents about 3,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and technical-clerical employees at 54 schools.

The district is scrapping a performance-based pay system in the new deal, giving teachers at least a 2 percent raise and paying its least experienced teachers as much as 15 percent more per year.

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