WE NEED PARENTS TO SPEAK UP TO END THIS DISPUTE Dear Parents and Guardians, The CVESD Board is supposed to represent you, the community. Please come to the Parent Rally at 5:30 and have yourself heard at the Board meeting at 6:00 at the District Office on Wednesday, September 10 (84 East J Street, Chula Vista). What Is the Superintendents Plan to Repair This District? The Superintendent and high District officials appear to be content with battling teachers and making them feel more and more unappreciated. I am baffled by what they see as a winning end game. Do they think they can last out a strike and make teachers knuckle under to accept their proposal? So how would teachers feel at the end of this scenario? What the Superintendent has never understood is that a vibrant school district depends upon teachers and other employees feeling happy in their work. This emotion is transferred in their teaching. This feeling is what inspires them to participate and create in free after-school programs for which they do not get paid extra. This feeling is what makes them go out at night to Walmart or Lakeshore to pick up some extra materials (again at their own expense) to make a lesson come alive. This feeling is what makes them want to come in early or stay late for a student. This feeling of basic contentment in their work comes from a basic showing of appreciation. But from not providing adequate training or an interim Common Core curriculum, from not even recognizing that teachers are working way beyond their contract hours, from not properly allowing teachers to help create local common core tests (such that they are now judged invalid), from then throwing the test scores of these invalid tests in their evaluations, and from starting with an insulting offer of a 2% increase to the salary schedule when inflation has increased by more than 13%, the District has in so many ways signaled to teachers that they are not respected or appreciated. The good will of teachers is leaving the district and no one at the top wants to take responsibility or recognize what this means. The Districts New Tactic Knowing that the compensation comparison to San Diego Unified is not flattering, the District has now changed tactics to argue that we have received raises over the last 7 years. They are talking about the automatic step increases in the salary schedule. Teachers have this unique form of increasing salary schedule where they accept a relatively low starting salary considering their education with the promise that over a long period of time their salary will increase into a middle class salary. The problem is that it is over such a long period of time that if adjustments are not made for inflation, a teacher’s salary may not really increase that much or at all. There are two reasons to increase the salary schedule: 1) to adjust for inflation and 2) to remain competitive with other districts. Even if teachers’ proposals are adopted, we will come short of achieving either goal. Inflation has increased about 13.5 percent according to the California Department of Industrial Relations. That means that a teacher on the salary schedule makes 13.5% less than a teacher who was at that same step level 7 years ago. Even if we increase the salary schedule by 10%, much less 8.5%, that teacher still will not be making what his or her counterpart on the same step level made 7 years ago. Health care contributions for families have increased by more than 13.5% over the last 7 years such that some teachers with two dependents have not actually seen any increase in pay even with the step increases. Additionally, whether you believe teachers get paid too much or too little (which is a subjective opinion), there is no doubt that we currently are not competitive with San Diego Unified, another big competitor for teaching talent. The District says that after we increase the salary schedule by its proposed 6%, Chula Vista teachers will make more salary than in San Diego Unified. In arguing this, they refuse to factor in health care which is part of a compensation package (Chula Vista teachers with two dependents would pay around $8500 out of pocket even with the Districts $1500 proposed increase while similar San Diego Unified teachers pay $0). When looking at salary alone, a 6% increase would have CV teachers make more at some given steps than San Diego Unified, but the District also fails to factor in that San Diego Unified is seeking its own 6.5% salary increase this year. Bottom Line The District can afford the proposed increases of teachers. We left the mediation table with the District rejecting our offer of an 8.5% increase (instead of 6%) and a $2500 increase to health care (instead of $1500). By my calculations the different between these two proposals is less than $ 3 million per year. The District apparently concedes it can afford its proposal, but suggests financial ruin would occur with $ 3 million more as it sits on its $50 million budgeted reserve. The District proposed to spend $ 4 million by locating an academic coach at all 40 district school sites, a plan that is not working. I understand that they have only filed about 8 coach position, probably because teachers voted that they did not want the coaches and so experienced teachers have not sought to fill those positions. So the District may not WANT to meet the financial proposals of teachers, but they certainly CAN do it. It is about priorities. Please come to the parent rally and Board meeting to let the Board know what you believe their priorities should be. Thank you. (Note: You may want to write them in advance [see one of slides for contact info.] to ask them to move Oral Communications [your time to talk] to the top of the agenda so you do not have to sit for an hour.) Sincerely, Manuel Yvellez CVE President Let Teachers Teach
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:46:16 +0000
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