Princeton Public Schools teachers are in line for salary increases of 3% annually for the next five years, under a contract approved by the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education.
Under the terms of the contract, which takes effect July 1 and expires July 30, 2027, the salary for a new teacher is $58,375 for the 2022-23 school year. By the fifth year of the contract for the 2026-27 school year, the salary will increase to $63,790.
A teacher who holds a master’s degree will earn between $63,005 and $104,173 in the first year of the contract depending on where they are placed on the salary scale. In the final year of the contract, the salary will range from $68,420 to $109,588.
Teachers who hold a master’s degree plus 30 additional credits, and those who hold doctorate degrees, will earn more.
In addition to teachers, the Princeton Regional Education Association represents guidance counselors and school counselors; nurses; librarians and media specialists; social workers; psychologists; learning consultants; supplementary instructors; therapists and athletic trainers.
School board president Dafna Kendal thanked the Princeton Regional Education Association, whose members “showed themselves to be indispensable.” She thanked the union for all that its members have done for the children of the Princeton Public Schools.
School board member Michelle Tuck Ponder, who served on the school board’s negotiations team with Kendal, also praised the union’s leaders and negotiations team for putting the students first. It made for “productive negotiations,” she said.
Justin Mathews, who served on the Princeton Regional Education Association’s negotiations team along with Renee Szporn, thanked Kendal and Ponder. They formed a strong relationship with the union’s negotiations team, which allowed the union members to focus on the growth of the district, the schools and the children they serve, he said.
“(Settling this contract) will give us peace of mind,” Szporn said. “We can concentrate and focus on making this a lighthouse district and provide the best education for our students.”
Superintendent of Schools Carol Kelley said that “there is nothing more we could do as a school district” for the students than to have educators in front of them on a daily basis.”
“I think it shows one more example of how dedicated the teachers of the Princeton Public Schools are (to the students),” Kelley said, praising the Princeton Regional Education Association membership.
