After about eight months of contract negotiations, local school district and teachers union bargaining teams have failed to reach an agreement on a pay raise for its certificated workforce—and the waters are getting choppier by the day.
“We were hoping to settle by last June,” said Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando of the negotiations. “I don’t think that we’re close. I thought we were close at one point…But, after the last board meeting, we are not that close.”
At the Oct. 18 meeting, English teacher Gemma Abels—the President of Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers—questioned district leadership’s book-keeping tactics, accused them of hoarding money that should go to teacher salaries and submitted supporting documentation to the school board.
With about two dozen teachers “standing together” as she addressed the school board, Abels said they are not asking to be the highest paid teacher staff in the county. They just want the district leaders to spend the money they get for each child on those doing the work inside the classrooms.
“If we were squirrels or investors, maybe that is the way to go—put that away for a rainy day,” Abels said. “But we’re dealing with people and we should invest the money into our students and our classrooms.”
Betando claims they are trying to do just that, and district negotiators were directed to and have made “significant” pay hike offers to teachers.
“I can’t tell you what it was, but it was significant,” said Betando of the amount.
The teachers union is asking for a 10 percent salary raise over the next two years.
“MHFT does not think our members will vote ‘yes’ on anything that’s less than 10 percent over two years without being able to negotiate it for next year,” Abels said.
The local teachers union is currently operating under a 3-year contract, one that came with a 5 percent raise and was approved by a 6-0 board vote in June 2015. However, in the spring, they started new negotiations on designated articles of that agreement, including compensation. The current agreement runs through 2018.
A first-year MHUSD teacher salary starts at $50,365.35, which is more than neighboring Gilroy Unified School District ($49,748 first year) but lower than other local school districts in Santa Clara County such as San Jose Unified ($54,958), Eastside Union ($55,349), Los Gatos Union ($55,053) and Fremont Union ($60,125).
Union claims district has the funds to better compensate teachers
Instead of having teachers speak to personal economic hardships and career-move quandaries brought on by lagging salaries like at previous board meetings, Abels turned to hard numbers.
“For the past three years, the district has underestimated its revenues and overestimated its expenses when the budget comes to you (the board) in June for the estimated actuals,” Abels explained. “At the end of last year, for example, they estimated they would deficit spend and the ending fund balance would decrease by more than $2.5 million. In reality, as shown by the unaudited actuals, the ending fund balance increased by $6,801,957.”
Abels went on to state that MHUSD’s ending fund balance at $29,265,339 after the 2015-16 school year was more than the total salaries paid out to all certificated staff for the entire year at $28,812,359.
Betando said district staff anticipated the influx of unspent funds at the end of last school year—savings which came from different school sites and departments and go back into the general fund. The district intended on spending the surplus on students and personnel. Other one-time funds that were received can’t go to ongoing teacher salaries that continue beyond one year, he explained.
“We had many more budgets that have unspent funds than we want…The fact that we haven’t been able to settle (on a pay raise) is contributing to that reserve,” Betando said. “We’re frustrated, and we’re hoping we can move forward quickly.”
Adding to the frustration is the increase in teacher retirement contributions on the part of both the employee and the employer, Betando said. With a new change in state law, teachers’ take-home salary is less this school year than last year despite the fact they receive the same pay.
Bargaining teams are scheduled to meet again Oct. 28.
Where’s the money going?
At last week’s meeting, Abels also presented documentation that district revenues are up 31 percent, ending fund balance is up 75 percent and its reserves are up 133 percent over the last five years.
“In all of these changes that have occurred since the 2010-11 school year, one thing has not changed significantly—the salaries the teachers make in this district,” Abels said.
Teacher salaries have increased by 12 percent since that 2010-11 school year, according to Abels.
The fight for higher teacher salaries in Morgan Hill comes at the same time as a statewide teacher shortage. MHUSD, like some other districts which were unable to attract qualified teachers for hard-to-fill positions such as special education, instead used Provisional Internship Permits. These permits, approved through the school board and then the state, allows for individuals with backgrounds in education but not proper credentialing to be hired while simultaneously working toward their education degree.
MHUSD has 16 such interns on staff, but the issue has been divisive. Some have stated if teacher salaries were competitive in the district, there wouldn’t be a need for so many interns. Others believe it’s an opportunity to grow and promote individuals from within the district and, at the very least, it is a stop-gap solution until the teacher shortage crisis is reversed.
“At one meeting last year I said the district should not talk about honoring or respecting teachers if they are not going to compensate them fairly,” Abels concluded. “I will repeat that tonight. Do not say that you respect and honor this teaching staff when you have more in your ending fund balance than you pay these teachers all of last year.”
Coincidentally, at the same Oct. 18 meeting, district leadership welcomed and honored its teachers of the year by school site for the 2015-16 school term. It was a make-up for an earlier snafu where only one teacher was present at the board meeting in which they were being honored.
