Harrisburg Teachers Get First Raise in Five Years

June 5, 2016 
By Steven Wishnia and Neal Tepel

Harrisburg, PA – Teachers, nurses, and counselors in the Harrisburg School District will be getting their first raise in five years. The Harrisburg Education Association and the city school board both approved a two-year contract May 31.

The agreement, which will run through the 2017-2018 school year, will also raise workers’ health-care premiums. It came after more than 1,400 days of negotiations the union described as “contentious.” Schools in this city of 50,000 have been under a state-appointed “recovery officer,” whose job is to “oversee the fiscal recovery of the district,” since December 2012. The union said the lack of a contract during the past four years had led to more than 400 members leaving the district. Read more