Hayward Teachers Settle; The Task That Still Remains

On 4/26/07, KPFA's evening news, 6 p.m., reported the Hayward teachers voted overwhelmingly (some 890 to 106 or so) for the union contract giving teachers an 11% raise over 2 years plus a 1% bonus. The teachers wanted 17% in 1 or 2 years originally. The basic funding problems remain because Democrats & Republicans in Sacamento are not taxing the rich.

Teachers in this district make $47,000 to $79,000 a year and must pay for their own healthcare benefits. For a single person it is bad enough; for a family, that is astronomical. This wage is below what any job requiring a college degree should pay. Teachers should start at $80,000 a year and have their healthcare fully funded by the State of California. All teachers throughout the state should make the same pay and the pay should come directly from the general fund. This entire piecemeal system of each district funding everything and running to property owners to pay for each district results in substandard wages, working conditions, and education.

The original proposal of the Hayward teachers may be found at the union's website in the 3/19/07 News Release at:
http://www.heaonline.org/news/CTA/03-19_CTA_Release.pdf

The final agreement was clearly described in the 4/23/07 News Release at:
http://www.heaonline.org/news/CTA/04-23_CTA_Release.pdf

At this point, they may get more money through the proposed parcel tax, but they and all the rest of California public schools from pre-school through and including college where tuition is going up astronomically could get far more money from the general fund, which comes from the progressive income tax, better known as tax the rich. California has millions of people who make over $200,000 a year and thousands who are millionaires and billionaires, all of whom could easily pay more taxes so that the schools would have plenty of money. This in turn would cut down on the street crime problem, thus cutting the prison system down considerably, which should be eliminated completely and replaced with a rehabilitation program that gets people back in the work force within 5 years. Both the Democrats and Republicans have been busy cutting taxes on the rich and since both are parties of the rich, no worker, including teachers, has any business voting for them. If you want to tax the rich, you have to vote Peace & Freedom or Green. All labor unions need to demand an immediate increase in income taxes on the rich and if the Democrats and Republicans refuse to do so this year, they should be replaced immediately with Peace & Freedom and Green Party candidates. Only then will labor be taken seriously.

From the test scores shown at the California Department of Education website, http://star.cde.ca.gov/,
it is clear that Hayward schools are workingclass schools. We have reports that math classes are constantly without a permanent teacher but instead a series of substitutes "manage" the classes. This can only result in very little learning and low test scores. This is the direct result of not taxing the rich and the labor unions' promotion of the worthless Democrats, who are often rich themselves and do not actively support raising taxes on the rich.

This little crumb thrown at the teachers to keep labor and community peace will not last. We have seen this show many times before and wonder when labor in this state will finally shut down the entire state until the Legislature (a) fully funds schools, (b) closes prisons and abolishes the death penalty, (c) taxes all those who make over $200,000 a year sufficiently so that all of our social needs are met, from schools to healthcare to public transportation to housing. We have witnessed some 40 years of steady decline in our school system, directly corresponding to the refusal to tax the rich on the part of the Democrats-Republicans and the refusal of labor to carry out a statewide strike. Now is the time to get off the dime!