Lincoln Board of Education to consider contract agreement between LEA and LPS

February 11, 2025

In a proposal presented to the Lincoln Board of Education on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Lincoln Education Association (LEA) and Lincoln Public Schools have reached a tentative contract agreement for the 2025-26 school year.

The tentative agreement represents an intentional combination of the valuable contributions our teachers make for Lincoln Public Schools and revitalizing district practices to support student learning along with teacher retention and recruitment.

Approved by a vote of LEA members on Jan. 31, the tentative agreement provides a total compensation package increase of 3.80 percent for the 2025-26 school year, with the base salary increasing from $48,556 to $49,556. In addition, the 5.49 percent increase in health insurance costs from the provider will be split between the school district covering 80 percent and educators 20 percent of the out of pocket increase. This is only the second increase in out of pocket costs for employees in the past 17 years.

Other proposed contract changes for educators includes:

• Rewarding those with at least 22 years of service with two additional days of annual leave, and the ability to sell back annual leave hours over 1,000 accrued.
• Replacing the $1,500 advance for new hires to a 13-month pay plan so first-year LPS educators can get their first paycheck in August instead of September.
• Forming a joint committee to study the feasibility of an elementary optional period for supervision duties.

The Board will hold a second reading and vote on the negotiated agreement at the next regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Comments

Interim Superintendent John Skretta

“Our students, families and community are fortunate to have such highly qualified and dedicated certificated staff in our classrooms and schools. There is a renewed focus as part of the 2024-2029 LPS Strategic Plan to ensure our compensation and benefits are competitive. This allows us to effectively recruit and retain the best professionals. This agreement brought before the Board recognizes the value we place on their expertise while being mindful of the challenging financial situation that our community and state continue to face.”

LEA President Deb Rasmussen

LEA President Deb Rasmussen wanted to thank the LEA Negotiations Team and the LPS Negotiations Team members for their collaborative effort. “The negotiations table meetings were full of the exchange of ideas, agreements and disagreements, but in the end the LEA Negotiations Team and I feel we did what was best for the staff and students of LPS.” 

Rasmussen also wanted to thank the members for their support of all the changes that are in this agreement. President Rasmussen wanted to recognize the LEA Chief Negotiator Matt Erb and negotiations table team members Mindy Diller, Megan Simsic, Michael Regnier, Nicole Lopez-Bettendorf, Jeff Pierce from LPS and Teresa Matthews and Todd Tystad from NSEA.

Board Vice President Kathy Danek

“The Lincoln Board of Education deeply appreciates the care, consideration and collaborative problem-solving approach that both LEA and LPS administration brought to the negotiations process. We are committed to hiring and supporting the highest quality educators, while being fiscally accountable to the community. This tentative agreement serves our community's children and reflects our community's values while creating a sustainable system in supporting our talented educators.”

---