MADISON, Wis. -- Madison school district officials and the teacher's union reached an agreement on Wednesday that will mean both salary and benefits increases for nearly 2,400 teachers through the 2009 school year.

Negotiations have been a source of contention in the past, but on Thursday night Madison teachers finalized a new contract with relative ease, WISC-TV reported. The two-year contract will run from July 1 to June 30, 2009.

The deal will give teachers a 1 percent base salary raise for each of the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years as well as 4 percent raise and a benefits hike.

There will be no big change in the two health insurance plans, the WPS and HMO option. However, teachers will have a new emergency room co-pay of $75 and $10 for office visits, WISC-TV reported.

The contract will also create committees to study and make recommendations about how to stem increasing health care costs and the workload of elementary school teachers.

The superintendent called the contract a good deal for teachers and taxpayers, WISC-TV reported.

The union approved the contract at a ratification meeting Thursday night at the Alliant Energy Center.

Although the contract received a green light from teachers, WISC-TV reported that of the 200 or so teachers present, as many as 50 voted against it. Others voted yes but said they weren't pleased with the contract.

Those teachers said that they felt caught between a rock and a hard place and were forced to just take what they could get.

The school board's meeting to ratify the contract is set for Monday, June 18, at 5 p.m.

Contracts for clerical/technical, education assistants and school security are still being negotiated, according to the news release.