DPSCD teacher contract clears final hurdle to approval

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The Detroit school board approved a new two-year contract for teachers Tuesday that increases their salaries, includes new language on AI use, and gives more money for teachers to participate in professional development.

More than 5,000 people belong to the Detroit Federation of Teachers, including teachers, paraprofessionals, academic interventionists, and psychologists, among other school staff. The new contract covers the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.

The board also approved a contract for the Detroit Association of Educational Office Employees. The two-year contract includes a 3% pay raise for fiscal years 2027 and 2028, along with a $2,000 annual retention bonus and a $1,500 longevity bonus for those with experience of 10 years or more.

The board approval comes after DFT and the Detroit Public Schools Community District reached a tentative agreement on June 18. It was the earliest the two groups had approved an agreement since 1994, according to the document. DFT membership ratified the contract on June 25, with the previous union contract expiring June 30.

Many of the highlights in the tentative agreement remain in the final version, such as the annual 3.7% raise teachers and ancillary staff with a master’s degree receive. The top annual salary possible for teachers with a master’s degree would be $96,500 in 2026-27 and $100,100 in 2027-28. The maximum in the previous contract is $93,000 a year.

All union members would advance one step in the pay scale each year of the contract, except those in alternative certification programs. The starting annual salary would be $57,400 for those with bachelor’s degrees, compared to $55,000 in the previous contract.

DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said during the meeting the salaries for beginning teachers are the highest in the region.

“This is critical because we’re seeing our veteran teachers retire, and for us to be competitive for beginning teachers and early year teachers, this number is important,” he said.

Substitute teachers would get a 3% raise in 2026-27 and 2027-28, and subs who cover an absence on a Monday or Friday will receive additional compensation. This is due to the district having difficulty in retaining subs on those days, Vitti said.

General education prekindergarten through fifth grade homeroom teachers would not have more than six students diagnosed with autism or emotional impairment in their classrooms. Teachers would get stipends of up to $4,000 a year based on the number of students with the diagnoses in their classrooms.

One thing that will remain the same in the new contract is healthcare coverage for union members. The district will maintain or increase overall health care cost contribution up to the 80% threshold, with the intention to maintain current plan options and providers if competitive.

“As a district, we cannot serve our students at the highest level if we’re not fully staffed, and to be fully staffed, we have to have a combination of a retention strategy and a recruitment strategy,” Vitti said. “And as we continue to improve wages and salaries for our teachers and beyond, we continue to be fully staffed across the district in most areas. And this is also leading to student achievement and improvement in overall student attendance.”

What else is new in the contract?

The contract also includes new language on artificial intelligence, with DPSCD and DFT committed to ensuring that “AI technology is used safely, effectively and equitably in the classroom,” the document states. This means AI should not replace a teacher’s professional judgement but can be used for instructional support purposes, like lesson planning or drafting communications.

AI cannot be used for tasks such as student grading or assessment decisions, individualized education program determinations, or student discipline decisions.

In addition, the district must maintain and publish a list of all approved AI tools at the beginning of the school year and provide ongoing professional development on AI to union members. The training would include responsible and ethical use, data privacy protections, and identifying bias and inaccuracies.

The language for “teacher leader” is changing, with educators in that role now being referred to as “lead leacher,” so that all positions across core content areas share more consistent duties, according to the contract. Lead teacher roles will be available in literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies for grades K-12.

Responsibilities for a lead teacher include mentoring new or student teachers, facilitating professional development during staff meetings, and providing information to colleagues. They will receive an annual $3,000 stipend in addition to their regular salary.

As for professional development, DFT members will receive $35.25 per hour for participating in workshops, up from $23.82 in the previous contract. Meanwhile, the DFT consultant, director, and facilitator rate will be $65.56 an hour.

Other contract highlights include:

• The voluntary transfer window for teachers shifts from March-May to April-June, with added protections for involuntarily transferred teachers and union building reps.
• Teachers taking maternity or paternity leave can earn back sick days in the years following their leave if they remain employed with the district.
• Personal religious observances are now an allowable use of personal business absences.

Michelle Awesome, a speech pathologist at the Jerry L. White Center, said she’s happy overall about the contract. She likes the new policy on maternity and paternity leave. In addition to sick days earned back, eligible employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of protected time off. Employees become eligible for leave after one year of service and 1,250 hours worked in the past 12 months, says the contract.

“I only took five weeks off after I had my son, so I’m happy the younger people get to have a little more time with their kids,” Awesome said.

However, she doesn’t agree with the new bonus system for speech and language pathologists when they exceed their maximum caseload. According to the agreement, caseloads should not exceed more than 60 students. When caseloads do go over, pathologists will receive supplemental pay. Pathologists can earn from $250 per quarter if they have between one and five students over their caseload, to up to $1,000 per quarter if they have 16 or more students exceeding their caseload.

“Basically, they’re offering us a bonus for more than what the state guidelines are,” Awesome said. “I’m not doing it. I’m not getting more than 60 because my kids need a lot more attention.”

The 2025 guidelines for the Michigan Speech Language Hearing Association states that the maximum caseload for pathologists is 60, but should be adjusted based on factors like the severity of the student’s disability and time for diagnostics, IEP meetings, and travel.

“I don’t think that what the contract has for SLPs (speech and language pathologists) is comparable to other ancillary professions in terms of workload expectation,” Awesome said.

Micah Walker is a reporter for BridgeDetroit. You can reach her at mwalker@bridgedetroit.com.