Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1541528
Health Care Costs Affect Educators at All Career Stages Using the 2025–26 salary schedule, this chart demonstrates how health care costs reduce Calaveras Unified School District teacher take-home pay at different career stages. " Rural schools are at risk of losing teachers because it has become impos sible to pay extraordinarily high premiums and still make ends meet." — Calaveras Unified Educators Assn. Vice President Jade Potter — everything. But our paychecks have not kept up. The 2.3% cost-of-living adjustment we're asking for doesn't make us rich. It doesn't even catch us up. It simply helps us hold on. We are fighting to stay here — to stay in Linden Unified . We are fighting to stay in teaching. e pro- fession we love has been devalued, disrespected and dismissed. What happened to the "superheroes" we were in 2019? Since then, class sizes have grown, workloads have multi- plied, and the respect has faded. And for me personally, I am fight- ing for my own children to stay in this district. I want them to grow up surrounded by the incredible educators who built this commu- nity. I should not have to consider leaving for financial reasons. No teacher should. But every year, that fight gets harder. Teachers should not have to choose between paying their bills and staying in the classroom. We should not have to watch our colleagues leave for districts that value their work more. And we should not have to beg — year after year — for the basic dignity of keeping up with inflation. is district is sitting on massive reserves — far beyond what the state requires. Meanwhile, the teachers — the very foundation of this district — are being stretched to their limits. That's not balance. That's not fair- ness. And it's not sustainable. We come here tonight with pas- sion , with pride and with a deep commitment to our students. We love what we do. We love this com- munity. But love doesn't pay the bills. We want Linden to be a district that keeps great teachers — not one that drives them away. Do not make me be the next to leave. "The profession we love has been devalued, disrespected and dismissed. What happened to the 'superheroes' we were in 2019? Since then, class sizes have grown, workloads have multiplied, and the respect has faded." —Association of Linden Educators VP Brie Baumgarten Continued from Page 15 17 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 5