As expected, salaries will be the top issue for teachers.

But there also will be several other changes that teachers want in their contract next year with Lawrence’s school district, including more planning time for elementary school teachers.

“Plan time for elementary and fringe benefits are huge issues, things that affect our people greatly,” said Kelly Barker, lead negotiator for the Lawrence Education Association, which represents the district’s 850 teachers.

Negotiators for the LEA and the school district have exchanged proposals for the 2007-2008 contract. And they’ll have their first round of talks Feb. 27.

Salary also is a key issue for the school board, said Kim Bodensteiner, who leads the board’s negotiating team.

The board wants to add funds to the salary schedule adopted last year to help Lawrence compete with surrounding school districts, Bodensteiner said.

However, it’s still too early to tell how much money will be available for Lawrence for a few months. The Kansas Legislature isn’t expected to finish its work on school finance until at least April.

For that reason, neither side has come up with a recommendation for an increase for next year.

Last year, negotiators reached an agreement that included an 8 percent increase in compensation.

That increase was plugged into a new salary grid designed to bring beginning teachers into the higher salaries of career teachers faster and also to reward veteran teachers. The 15-level salary grid is based on years of service and the educational level attained.

About half the teachers received less than 8 percent, and about half received more than 8 percent, with the minimum increase being about $2,400.

The beginning salary for new teachers in Lawrence went from $29,550 to $32,475. Career teachers with a master’s degree can earn up to $48,000, and those with a doctorate can earn up to $56,925.

“After what we did last year, we put ourselves closer to Olathe, Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission. But they’re still ahead of us,” Barker said. “Now we need to make sure that it continues to work for us by putting more money into it.”

The LEA and the board’s negotiators have formed three committees that have been looking at several issues that will be on the table in coming months:

¢ Elementary planning time. Elementary teachers now get 40 minutes a day to spend planning. The committee has been looking at ways to increase that to 60 to 65 minutes.

¢ Additional assignments. The committee is to make recommendations to make sure Lawrence is competitive with neighboring districts in what they pay assistant coaches and assistant club sponsors.

¢ Early retirement. That committee is looking at how Lawrence can better absorb the cost of more aging teachers who soon plan to take early retirement.

“We are not looking at pulling the rug out from under teachers who have planned on that benefit for years,” Bodensteiner said. “We are trying to look in the future how to make that benefit affordable.”