Washington, DC

(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Chancellor Lewis Ferebee joined Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) President Jacqueline Pogue Lyons in releasing the following statement after DC Public Schools (DCPS) and WTU leadership reached a tentative contract agreement:

“The more than 5,000 DCPS educators represented in this agreement play an essential role in creating a loving, challenging, and joyful school experience for thousands of young people across our city every single day. Today, we are proud to reach an agreement that delivers robust back pay in recognition of the tireless efforts and sacrifice our teachers have made over the past three years. With a 12 percent increase in salary over four years and a 4 percent retention bonus, this agreement provides our educators with competitive raises that will help the District to retain and attract the best talent for our schools.

“We love our teachers, and we want Washington, DC, to be the number one city for teachers—a city where teachers stay at their schools and live in our city. Beyond pay and benefits, it was important for this agreement to reflect the respect the District has for teachers and the work they do for DC’s students. We will continue to work together and across government to make sure our schools, teachers, and students have everything they need to do well.

“Together, we want to thank all of our DCPS teachers for consistently making DC proud, building and keeping the trust of our families, and above all, loving and empowering our young people. We believe this tentative agreement is fair for teachers and good for students. Our hope is that WTU members are able to vote on it soon and that we can send it to the Council of the District of Columbia in December for approval.”

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