After more than a year of talks, the Cambridge School Committee and the Cambridge Teachers Association (CTA) have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, officials with both sides announced yesterday.

Details of the deal were not disclosed at yesterday's press conference. But sources told The Crimson the deal will include a pay raise for teachers, provisions for special needs students and individual accounts that teachers can use to purchase classroom supplies.

CTA President Roger O'Sullivan praised Anthony D. Galluccio, Cambridge's newly-elected mayor, as the "driving force" in marathon negotiating sessions that resulted in what he called a "fair and equitable" settlement.

The two sides reached a tentative agreement in the early morning hours of Feb. 20, though the announcement was delayed a week during the schools' vacation.

"The outstanding variable of not having a permanent mayor was an issue," said Galluccio. "It was a deterrent to final settlement."

Cambridge had been operating under acting Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 for almost two months after the City Council was unable to elect a permanent mayor in December.

The pace of talks had picked up even before Galluccio's Feb. 15 election, however. District and union officials agreed earlier this month to incorporate talks on the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) restructuring with the ongoing contract negotiations.

The school committee had initially resisted including details of the CRLS restructuring--scheduled to take place next fall--in the broader contract.