PROVIDENCE — After a two-year struggle, the 2,100-member Providence Teachers Union has ratified a three-year contract, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2007, that contains modest wage increases and requires teachers to pay more for their health care.

The rank-and-file, meeting Thursday morning at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, in Cranston, approved the agreement in a 947-to-73 vote. The School Board is expected to follow suit when it meets Tuesday.

The contract, which runs through Aug. 31, 2010, calls for raises totaling 3 percent for every teacher: 1.5 percent for each of the first two years.

The average teacher will receive a total salary increase of about $2,000, the School Department said.

But the vast majority of teachers — those who are at step 10 or above on the wage scale — will also receive a one-time retroactive payment equal to 1.5 percent of their salary no later than September. About three-fourths of the teachers are in this category.

In addition, most teachers will pay a greater share of their health care premiums, moving from 10 to 15 percent. (Under the terms of the previous contract, a small number of teachers, those hired after Sept. 1, 2004, already paid more than 15 percent of the their heath care. They won’t be affected by the latest agreement.)

Under the new terms, most teachers will pay $867 for individual health care coverage and $2,316 for family coverage.

No longer are Providence teachers, who currently earn between $35,000 and $67,000 a year, among the highest-paid in Rhode Island. Among the 36 school districts, Providence ranks in the bottom third in terms of top salaries, according to the Rhode Island Association of School Committees.

Teachers on Thursday said they were satisfied with the contract, given the financial challenges facing both the city and the state. After two years without raises, they said, they were relieved to finally have a contract, adding that they can now concentrate fully on the new math and science curriculum that will be introduced this fall.

“This was a tough vote in tough financial times,” said the union president, Steve Smith. “The mayor wanted a 15 percent co-share and we wanted raises. We rolled up our sleeves and got it done.”

Mayor David N. Cicilline praised the teachers union for recognizing that sacrifices have to be made and said the larger health care contributions will save the city $1.5 million.

“When the consequences of the national recession and the state budget crisis became clear, I called on all Providence stakeholders to step forward [in behalf of] our overburdened property taxpayers,” Cicilline said, “and that’s exactly what the Providence Teachers Union has done.”

Unlike the contract ratification five years ago, there seemed to be little rancor following Thursday’s vote. Teachers thanked Smith and shook his hand on their way to their last day of school.

“In these tough times, it’s a fair contract for everybody,” said Mary Ellen Raposa, a teacher at Central High School.

“We’ve been without a contract for two years,” said Roland Sasseville Jr., another teacher from Central. “This maintains the status quo.”

Schools Supt. Tom Brady, who arrived here nearly a year ago, called the agreement a “bridge” contract because it deals with two major issues — wages and benefits — while leaving more complex issues like hiring practices and teacher evaluations for the next round of negotiations, which he said he hopes will begin shortly.

During the tenure of former Schools Supt. Donnie Evans, who left last summer, the teachers issued a vote of no confidence in the superintendent and then-School Board President Mary McClure. Negotiations slowed to a crawl after Evans announced his resignation.

After Brady arrived last summer, negotiations resumed and by November, both sides reported they were close to signing a new agreement. Then, Cicilline stunned the unions by announcing that that city planned to switch health plan administrators, replacing Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island with UnitedHealthCare of New England.

Negotiations resumed in earnest two weeks ago, with Cicilline and Smith meeting in marathon sessions over the weekend. They reached an agreement on Monday, Smith said.

The contract, however, does not address the issue of who will be the city’s health care administrator; that matter will be resolved by arbitration.

To date, only two of the city’s five major labor unions — the teachers and Local 1033 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America — have signed contracts. Local 1033 represents City Hall employees.

lborg@projo.com