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ST. LOUIS — Teachers in St. Louis Public Schools will be awarded the largest raises in nearly 20 years under a new union contract that starts in July.

The contract approved Tuesday by the St. Louis Board of Education gives most teachers a 17% pay increase over three years. Special education teachers will receive a 22% raise in the contract negotiated by district leaders and Local 420 of the American Federation of Teachers.

“We have to make sure we are supporting our teachers,� said Keisha Scarlett, the district’s superintendent of less than one year, at a press conference Wednesday.

“I don’t know how much compensation really that’s necessary for all the miracles that our educators and school teams do every single day for our children and our families, but this is a step in the right direction,� added Scarlett, whose two daughters are elementary school teachers in Seattle.

The average salary in SLPS for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $53,854, which ranks fourth highest in the state according to the Missouri National Education Association.

Teachers will see a 7% raise in fiscal 2025, the first year of the contract, and 5% in both 2026 and 2027. The pay for special education teachers will jump by 10% in the first year and 6% in each of the following two years. Other staff members represented by the union will receive a minimum 10% raise during the three-year contract.

The last negotiated contract in 2022 gave SLPS teachers and staff an 8% raise in the first year and a 3% raise this year.

Several teachers said the raises are misleading because SLPS doesn’t provide annual bumps on a salary scale by tenure. They also said they weren’t given the details of the contract before the in-person vote on Monday. The union did not release a tally but said 78% of voting members approved the contract.

“Most teachers do not realize that the salary scale is fixed until they have worked here for a few years, and by then they are likely on the way out anyway,� said one Metro High School teacher.

Angie Banks, chief financial officer at SLPS, said the raises would cost around $24 million over three years, mostly out of the general operating budget.

The budget for 2023-2024 is close to $484 million, and the district is on track to amass a multi-million dollar surplus.

The staff raises are aimed at recruiting and retaining teachers during a nationwide shortage, particularly in special education. About 12% of 1,625 teaching positions in SLPS remained unfilled before the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

The city school district faces several other major challenges after Scarlett took over for long-term leader Kelvin Adams last year:

• A handful of top administrators have left the district in the last few months, including the directors of communication and human resources and an assistant superintendent. The district is also  to replace Banks, who plans to leave at the end of the year.
• More than 100 SLPS bus drivers called out sick for at least two days last month in protest of racism and safety issues with the contractor, Missouri Central.
• Enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grades has fallen by 40% in the last decade to about 16,500 this year.
• Leaders have yet to announce plans for spending $160 million in bonds approved by city voters in August 2022 to fund repairs and renovations across 63 buildings. More than half of the schools are under 50% capacity.

With falling enrollment and underutilized buildings, the decision to shut down more schools looms over SLPS leaders. Scarlett said Wednesday that the district will need to reduce costs and will host “family forums� this spring to discuss priorities.

Adams closed more than two dozen schools for low enrollment during his 14-year tenure as superintendent.