Sioux City School District teachers, through their employee union group, have asked for raises of $1,500, or 3.83 percent, to the base salary in the 2026-27 year ahead.
As more than 30 teachers and other district support personnel looked on Wednesday afternoon, the Sioux City Education Association also asked for those raises.
Union official Brenda Zahner announced the SCEA opening contract proposal, and also for members of the Sioux City Education Support Personnel Association group.
The second union group, which includes paraeducators, administrative assistants, library and other workers, asked for raises of $3 per hour for certain special education assistants, and $1.25 per hour raises for elementary library assistants.
Zahner said there is a strong need to address employee turnover in the support positions, so SCESPA requested an increase in longevity pay by $50 for each of four tenure segments.
School district officials will give their responding offer in a March meeting.
Once the opening proposals are unveiled, Iowa law permits the subsequent negotiations to be carried out privately. The Sioux City Education Association represents 1,100 teachers, and 400 workers are represented by the Sioux City Education Support Personnel Association group.
The Iowa Legislature in 2024 passed a proposal to raise the minimum salary in the state to $50,000.
Down in Des Moines, Republicans in the Iowa House last week approved an increase in K-12 public schools spending of 2 percent for next year,, although the Senate has not voted on that.
