Nearing Strike Deadline, Boston Teachers, Board Approve Pact

By Joanna Richardson

The Boston School Committee and the local teachers' union last week approved a one-year contract agreement, narrowly avoiding a strike that was to begin Nov. 12.

After the seven-member committee and Mayor Thomas M. Menino endorsed the pact last week, over 80 percent of the Boston Teachers' Union's members voted to ratify it.

The contract, which gives teachers a 3 percent pay hike retroactive to Sept. 1, is only a stopgap measure. School officials and union leaders are expected to resume bargaining in January on provisions covering the last two years...