LEWISTON – As the Lewiston School Committee met Monday night, about 75 teachers holding signs stood quietly filling the back and sides of the room. Their signs read:

“Respect for Public Education Means Respect for Teachers.”

“Respect for Education = a Fair Contract.”

“Protect our Time to Work With Students.”

Teachers union Co-presidents Crystal Ward and Muffett Dulac said Lewiston teachers have been working without a contract since September, and they want the public to know that.

Union representatives and school officials have been negotiating for more than a year, but “issues are not being successfully resolved,” Ward said.

Both sides will enter mediation on Nov. 30. That’s not the norm. “Usually we’re able to iron out our contract without having to go to mediation,” Ward said.

The two sticking points: pay raises, and language that has to do with class schedules and teacher preparation.

Dulac and Ward say the the School Department’s offer equates to a 1.9 percent salary increase.

The School Department says its offer totals 3.25 percent per year, or $1.6 million worth of salary increases.

The difference: the union isn’t counting step raises, the school department is.

A 1.9 percent raise is unacceptable, Ward said. After counting higher health costs facing teachers, there’ll be little if any more money in paychecks, both said. Now teachers are making less money than last year because of higher health insurance costs.

The Lewiston Education Association wants a 3.5 or 4 percent pay raise.

“We’re not asking for the stars here,” Ward said.

That 1.9 percent raise does not include “step” raises, or raises teachers get for the length of time they’ve taught. Because half of Lewiston’s 400 teachers are at the top of the scale, they would only get the 1.9 percent increase, Ward said.

School Committee member Thomas Shannon, who serves on the negotiation team for the city, said he welcomed the teachers at Monday’s meeting. He praised teachers.

“Every person holding up a sign in that room is an important person in our school system,” Shannon said.

But, the city and Lewiston taxpayers have limited means, Shannon said. Lewiston teachers are among the highest paid in the region, both in salary and benefits.

“Teachers in Lewiston are making good wages,” Shannon said. The starting salary for a teacher is $30,000, and within 15 years a teacher with a bachelor’s degree earns about $50,000, Shannon said. “They are not poorly compensated compared to other districts in the area.”

The School Department is offering teachers a 3.25 percent increase per year over the next three years when the step raises are included, Shannon said. That amounts to $1.6 million of new money over the three years.

The School Department’s offer means that a teacher earning $50,000 would get a $1,000 raise each year. That’s a good raise for this area, Shannon said.

As far as teachers paying more for health costs, Shannon said teachers pay about 20 or 21 percent of the health costs increases while taxpayers pay the remaining 79 or 80 percent. Again, teachers are being treated well, Shannon said.

In the other issue teachers said they wanted a so-called “Article 8” left in the contract. Removal of that would mean teachers could be forced to teach as many as eight different classes in two days, Ward said. Teachers would have to prepare for eight different classes, which is not doable, teachers said.

“I teach AP government, general government, and concept special needs government,” Ward said. “They are totally different preparations.”

If the language were removed from the contract, “they could add five more history and government classes,” she added.

Shannon said forcing teachers to prepare and teach eight different classes “won’t happen.”

The so-called Article 8 should come out of the teachers’ labor contract because it has to do with number of classes, teacher preparation time and when classes should be scheduled. Those issues have to do with education policy, and should not be subjected to labor negotiations, he said.

It’s true that the language has been in the labor contract for 25 years, Shannon said, “but that doesn’t mean it’s right being in there.”