California Educator

February 2016

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SANTEE EDUCATORS REACH AGREEMENT Aer months of negotiations and a successful Rally for Students at the Jan. 19 Santee school board meeting, the Santee Teachers Association (STA) and Santee School District reached a mediated settlement that will help keep outstanding teachers in the community. Their successful agreement reflects a continued focus on student improvement by compensating teachers for state-required certificates that improve teacher effectiveness, changing the work year to facilitate teacher professional growth activities, and adding stipends for activ- ities that teachers perform outside the school day, such as sixth-grade camp. Teachers will receive a 4 percent increase for 2015-16, and an additional 4 percent increase for 2016-17. The agreement also addresses the issue of substandard health care benefits by adding $600 to their benefits cap in 2016, and an additional $1,200 in 2017. STA had raised the concern of teachers leaving the district for better pay and benefits elsewhere. At press time, passage was widely antici- pated at the ratification meeting on Jan. 28. STA President Lori Meaux and SSD Superin- tendent Cathy Pierce said in their joint release, "Today we found common ground. Now is the time for all of us to reach out and work together to build an even stronger learning environment for our students!" SAN LORENZO EDUCATORS WANT FAIR TREATMENT Their ongoing fight for fair pay, lower class sizes, health benefit equity and fair treatment has brought educators in the San Lorenzo Unified School District to the brink of a possible strike. A vote taken in mid-January in this 10,000-student district in the East Bay overwhelmingly authorized leaders of the San Lorenzo Education Association (SLEA) to call a strike if necessary, aer the impasse process is fully exhausted. A neutral Public Employment Relations Board appointee serving as a fact finder has until mid-Feb- ruary to issue a nonbinding report to attempt to settle the year-old bargaining dispute. Aer the impasse process ends, educators could consider the strike option. Numerous informational pickets have been staged before and aer school over the months, while more than 1,000 parents and other supporters signed petitions given to the school board in December demanding fair raises for educators and lower class sizes for students with special needs. "This strike vote and our picketing is a reaction to the indiffer- ence shown by Superintendent Fred Brill and the school board majority to educators and parents," says Donna Pinkney, president of the 580-member SLEA. "We don't want to strike, but at this point all options are on the table if we don't reach a settlement during the impasse process. Teacher turnover hurts students, and teachers are leaving this district for more pay and respect in neigh- boring districts." Educators are asking for a 6.2 percent salary increase and health benefits parity with administrators, but the district is only offering a 1.5 percent salary schedule increase. San Lorenzo educators are among the lowest-paid in Alameda County. SAN DIEGUITO FACULTY ASSOCATION APPROVES CONTRACT San Dieguito Faculty Association (SDFA) members overwhelmingly approved a contract with the San Die- guito Union High School District, San Diego County, and it was ratified by the school board. "SDFA leaders are proud that we could bring such an outstanding new agreement to our members that is, once again, a direct result of our constructive, interest-based collaborative working relationship with our District," said SDFA in a bulletin to members. "This new agreement provides the financial security, health benefits, and contractual language stability that our members deserve, and achieved without engaging in the adversarial negotiations and counterpro- ductive conflict seen in so many districts. [It] also provides the budget certainty and security for our district's current and future financial planning." Among the contract highlights are a 7 percent salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2015, a 5.5 percent salary increase in July 2016 for the 2016-17 school year, and improved health benefits. SDFA members celebrate their agreement with members of the school board. 38 cta.org

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