Grand Rapids — Grand Rapids Public Schools has offered up a proposal to invest $4 million in teacher salaries in a move that the district hopes will ease tensions with the Grand Rapids Education Association teachers union as contract negotiations continue.
The proposal was made public Monday morning, and in an accompanying statement, GRPS Superintendent Leadriane Roby called it a “historic investment in our educators.”
But is it enough? No, said several GREA members in attendance at Monday’s board of education meeting.
“If I had to sum it up, I’d say (we’re) grateful that they came to the table with a little gift, but disappointed that it wasn’t what we really deserve,” GREA Vice President Jayne Niemann told SNN as the meeting was getting started.
Though the first hour-and-a-half of the meeting was reserved for a closed-session update on collective-bargaining matters, no agreements were reached, and teachers still don’t have contracts in place for the 2025-26 school year, which starts Aug. 18. And this week, teachers are already reporting to work for professional development, said Niemann, a teacher at Union High School.
Both Niemann and GRPS Communications Director Luke Stier said that if contracts aren’t in place by the time school starts, the year will begin as usual. Teachers unions are not legally allowed to strike in Michigan, Niemann said, so they’ll be reporting to their classrooms, hoping that an agreement is reached and that any raises that do come from a contract agreement are made retroactive.
But Niemann stressed GREA teachers aren’t going to give up.
“We keep going. We’re going to amp up the pressure,” she said. “You might see some educators with signs walking the streets and the sidewalks. You might see massive email campaigns. … We’re not done.”
GREA members stated that the district’s proposal offers to increase overall pay to GREA by 4.5%, but Niemann said that doesn’t necessarily mean 4.5% raises for all.
“In fact, it could be as low as barely over 1% for some people,” she said.
As for what the GREA is asking for, Niemann said it’s tricky to give it an exact percentage. She said the GREA asked for 7.5% last year and didn’t receive it; now that figure is outdated. The union is now “bargaining on a whole new salary schedule” that would give annual raises to all teachers and bring pay up to the county average.
“That’s what we’re asking for, and we don’t think that’s too much to give,” Niemann said, adding that the union resubmitted its proposal in response to the district.
Teachers Address the Board
Niemann and several other teachers spoke during public comment to make their feelings known.
“We stand unified as an educational association for our members. We are asking for a salary proposal that incorporates yearly raises, and we are grateful that the district did counterpropose such a salary schedule,” Niemann told the board. “However, the current proposal does not put us at the county average. … So we respectfully request that the district reconsider our proposal.”
Regan Rohrs, a third-year teacher at Grand Rapids Public Museum School, told SNN she loves what she does.
“This is my dream job, and I’m pretty darn good at what I do,” she said.
But she told the board, “You need to do better.”
“You are actively choosing to disenfranchise the most vulnerable people in this community, and those are our scholars,” Rohrs said.
Kaitlyn Holmwood, special education representative for GREA, said the same — that low pay is virtually the only drawback to a job she otherwise loves.
“I want to stay here; I want to be here; I love our families — it’s a dream situation for me, aside from the fact that our pay doesn’t reflect how difficult our jobs are, and the cost of living in Grand Rapids,” Holmwood said. “We’re working really hard for our students, we care about them a lot, and it all seems very upside down right now.”
Museum School teacher Alex Lawton Zandstra said he feels district leadership is “unprepared,” and that the negotiation process has been chaotic throughout.
“I just feel like the water is very murky when it comes to these negotiations,” Zandstra said. “I really feel like I’m starting off this school year without an idea of what is going on.”
Negotiations Coming at ‘Uncertain Time’
In the statement accompanying the GRPS proposal, the district stated that ongoing negotiations are coming during an “especially uncertain time for public education funding,” citing the expiration of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund dollars and funds withheld by the U.S. Department of Education.
“During this time of funding uncertainty, we’ve made intentional reductions at the administrative level,” Roby said in the statement, referencing the district’s 2025-26 budget, which includes a pay freeze for cabinet positions.
Niemann said contract negotiations will continue until an agreement is reached and signed by both Roby and the GREA President Matt Marlow.
The district declined to comment further at this time.
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