The Anne Arundel County school board approved a one-year contract with the teachers union this week that will give teachers a pay raise but increase their health-care costs.
The contract, which goes into effect July 1, gives the county's more-than-5,000 public school teachers a 3 percent cost-of-living raise and a $250 flat increase in January.
But most teachers will have to contribute 12 percent toward their health plan, up from 10 percent.
The contract also provides more instructional planning time to all teachers, and $1,500 stipends to those who work in schools that are targeted for improvement by the state. Teachers in the low-performing schools are eligible for another $1,500 stipend if their school meets the benchmarks on the state assessments.
