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PVUSD Board attacks Class Size Reduction, votes to lay off hundreds
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District board of trustees approved Thursday night a budget that closes a $14 million dollar deficit. The cuts eliminate Class Size Reduction in Kindergarten and 3rd grade (eliminating 50 teacher positions from the elementary schools), slash funding for nurses, custodians, aides, and counselors, but leave top-level administrators' contracts untouched.
Hundreds of teachers, nurses, classified workers, parents, and students were present at the PVUSD board meetings on Wednesday and Thursday nights to demand the board of trustees make fair and equitable cuts across the district. Everyone there understood the need to cut money from the budget, after the state eliminated so much funding for schools this year, however the demand was that cuts be made as far from the classroom as possible.
Despite this, no jobs were eliminated at the top, as superintendent and assistant superintendent contracts were protected. But this was not the first time that the top brass has put themselves ahead of the teachers.
A recent study conducted by the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers compared PVUSD with 30 comparable districts (in both size and population) and showed that of those 30 districts, PVUSD ranks 3rd from the top in per pupil funding from the state of California. Despite this, teacher salaries in PVUSD were at the very bottom of the list, making teachers the lowest paid. Where's the money going? Since the 2004-05 school year cabinet members (including but not limited to the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, and Deputy Superintendent) have seen a 25% increase in salary and benefits. Over the same time period, District Office Administration has seen a 14.5% increase in salary. Teachers have seen only a 7% increase.
Superintendent Dorma Baker’s website states that PVUSD’s mission is, “to educate and support learners in reaching their highest potential.” By increasing class size, student achievement is going to drop. By laying off nurses and custodians, schools will not be a clean and healthy environment for students to learn in. By cutting the number of aides available to work with students disabilities we do not provide them with an equitable and fair learning opportunity. By eliminating sports programs at the middle and high schools we close doors to students who might succeed in things other than academics and to gain life experiences that they deserve to have just as much as wealthier students do. Each and every cut that the board has authorized has a direct negative impact on our students achieving their highest potential. How, we ask, are these children affected when administration positions are reduced or eliminated?
In a time of crisis, the PVUSD administration should be ashamed of itself. Our most important people, the students, are the ones who will suffer from these unconscionable decisions.
Despite this, no jobs were eliminated at the top, as superintendent and assistant superintendent contracts were protected. But this was not the first time that the top brass has put themselves ahead of the teachers.
A recent study conducted by the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers compared PVUSD with 30 comparable districts (in both size and population) and showed that of those 30 districts, PVUSD ranks 3rd from the top in per pupil funding from the state of California. Despite this, teacher salaries in PVUSD were at the very bottom of the list, making teachers the lowest paid. Where's the money going? Since the 2004-05 school year cabinet members (including but not limited to the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, and Deputy Superintendent) have seen a 25% increase in salary and benefits. Over the same time period, District Office Administration has seen a 14.5% increase in salary. Teachers have seen only a 7% increase.
Superintendent Dorma Baker’s website states that PVUSD’s mission is, “to educate and support learners in reaching their highest potential.” By increasing class size, student achievement is going to drop. By laying off nurses and custodians, schools will not be a clean and healthy environment for students to learn in. By cutting the number of aides available to work with students disabilities we do not provide them with an equitable and fair learning opportunity. By eliminating sports programs at the middle and high schools we close doors to students who might succeed in things other than academics and to gain life experiences that they deserve to have just as much as wealthier students do. Each and every cut that the board has authorized has a direct negative impact on our students achieving their highest potential. How, we ask, are these children affected when administration positions are reduced or eliminated?
In a time of crisis, the PVUSD administration should be ashamed of itself. Our most important people, the students, are the ones who will suffer from these unconscionable decisions.
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thanks for putting the pvft study out to the public. that was definitely one of the important points that was made at the meeting.
i think it's also important to note that the meeting at Ann Soldo School was held in a building that did not meet the crowd's needs. as a person who arrived a bit late, i was not able to hear or see the majority of the proceedings because there were so many of us outside in the cold.
why, when the entire district's wealth of auditoriums are free for use, did they choose a small, out of the way elementary school's room--particularly after the last meeting when the fire marshall was reportedly called and the meeting was cancelled because so many folks showed up? would the Mello Center not have worked?
and why no Spanish translation?
and why did we not get copies of the agenda outside until the end of the meeting?
and, why were the bathrooms not opened until a good 45 minutes after the meeting began?
i think it's also important to note that the meeting at Ann Soldo School was held in a building that did not meet the crowd's needs. as a person who arrived a bit late, i was not able to hear or see the majority of the proceedings because there were so many of us outside in the cold.
why, when the entire district's wealth of auditoriums are free for use, did they choose a small, out of the way elementary school's room--particularly after the last meeting when the fire marshall was reportedly called and the meeting was cancelled because so many folks showed up? would the Mello Center not have worked?
and why no Spanish translation?
and why did we not get copies of the agenda outside until the end of the meeting?
and, why were the bathrooms not opened until a good 45 minutes after the meeting began?
Kudos on this article. I teach down in Watsonville as well. It is appalling the amount of money that is spent on administration down there. They have 3 superintendents down there for 3 different sections of the district, each with major support staffs and big salaries. Go for yourself and see the offices they have on Green Valley Road in Watsonville, in a place called of all places "The Towers." It is a 3 story office building housing the administration. The school board was basically elected by a bunch of conservatives funded into office by Granite Rock Construction...Other food for thought: few white kids go to school at schools in Watsonville. Parents instead choose to send them to private schools because they think the education is that much better, does not serve their needs. This creates a "ghetto" of sorts of Latino students, most classes over 90% Latino. While the general population is heavily Latino, the proportion is not nearly the same...Many problems down at Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD), but as always teachers will get the blame though they are vastly over-worked already...A woman I know who has done presentations at schools all over the county says the schools she visits that seem the best run are those that run their own schools, are 1 school school districts. No cumbersome boards, administrators, etc. Money goes straight to the schools. Something to think about... How many aides, etc. could we have in the classrooms helping students on a superintendent's salary?
Yes...I do think that sites should have local control. PVUSD has way too much power concentrated at the Towers, only to give those overpaid, mostly incompetent people jobs. Let them leave those towers and come work in the classroom! Many of them were teachers anyway...they can become classroom aides, library techs, coaches, etc in order to spread the wealth a bit more.
Currently there is what I consider a crisis at PVUSD. Huge cuts in funding. Who gets hit first? Aides, nurses, after school teachers, librarians, art teachers, music teachers, science teachers. Why do they get hit? It's not because they have the biggest salaries. No, it's because they aren't in the teacher's union and are basically not involved in negotiations, aren't represented. Substitute teachers also get a raw deal, getting far less pay than other districts. It is outrageous the number of administrators at PVUSD. Many of them need to go first!! But, the teacher's union needs to start opening up to people who aren't necessarily full time, contracted teachers, because they are working hard too and for a hell of a lot less money with no benefits. A strike seems almost obvious at this point, but the question is whether the union can react quickly enough and see the big picture to mobilize.
Maybe if teachers just put up anonymous signs around the teachers' lounges and such that said "STRIKE!" or !JUELGA! somebody might start getting the point that teachers are serious.
Profe: unfortunately, striking is a bit more complicated than just rallying teachers and putting signs in staff rooms. UNLIKE the majority of administrators, teachers are in this for their kids, not for themselves. We worry about what will happen when we leave the classroom, how the students will feel midyear without the comfort of people who are often the only stable force in their lives.
Teachers need to vote to strike and risk loss of salary and benefits. That said, I agree with you that it should be used in a situation like this. The problem is that districts across the states are losing funding and making cuts, and while many are doing this more equitably by cutting administrative funding at levels comparable to teacher cuts, our district is given a get-out-of-jail-free card. The unfair wages and salary discrepancies in PVUSD are highlighted during a time of crisis, but the crisis gives the board and top-level administrators excuses not to make cuts. it's a catch-22.
Over 350 school employees in Santa Cruz county received pink slips today. here's the breakdown:
Pajaro Valley 250
Santa Cruz 65
Scotts Valley 22
Soquel Union 26
Live Oak 13
San Lorenzo Valley 10
TOTAL: 386
Teachers need to vote to strike and risk loss of salary and benefits. That said, I agree with you that it should be used in a situation like this. The problem is that districts across the states are losing funding and making cuts, and while many are doing this more equitably by cutting administrative funding at levels comparable to teacher cuts, our district is given a get-out-of-jail-free card. The unfair wages and salary discrepancies in PVUSD are highlighted during a time of crisis, but the crisis gives the board and top-level administrators excuses not to make cuts. it's a catch-22.
Over 350 school employees in Santa Cruz county received pink slips today. here's the breakdown:
Pajaro Valley 250
Santa Cruz 65
Scotts Valley 22
Soquel Union 26
Live Oak 13
San Lorenzo Valley 10
TOTAL: 386
maestra, while i applaud your standing by the kids, i don't think that this should be used as an excuse to strike or not to strike. how is it in the kids and the teachers best interest to continually endure uncertainty and unfairness in the classroom and come paycheck time? the question is tactics. there are multiple ways to strike, including informational strikes, single day strikes, etc...while in the short run these kinds of things will hurt the kids and relations with the higher-ups, in the end it does not, in the long run, i believe. is the teachers unions strong enough to do this or just go out and wave signs, get bogged down in lengthy bad bargaining? how much is not striking a fear of retribution by the powers that be??
I'm not disagreeing with you! I DO think there should be a strike - at this point it seems like perhaps the only possible thing that will hit the district hard enough to force them to change. In my previous post I was relaying the reasons why many teachers in the district don't want to strike. Some do, some don't. In fact a union survey I completed yesterday asked just that - what are teacher's willing to do at this point? Answers included striking as well as other, less dramatic, possibilities like rolling sick-outs (there's a sub-shortage in PV), and work-to-rule (we ONLY work our contract hours and do nothing more than immediate duties).
If it were up to me I'd be out there on the lines tomorrow. There is also this minor detail that hasn't been mentioned - our district is the only one in the county who hasn't provided binding arbitration to the union. That means if the district breaks the contract there is no third-party to hold them accountable in a court of law, and they will only be forced to pay fines rather than resolving the situation.
If it were up to me I'd be out there on the lines tomorrow. There is also this minor detail that hasn't been mentioned - our district is the only one in the county who hasn't provided binding arbitration to the union. That means if the district breaks the contract there is no third-party to hold them accountable in a court of law, and they will only be forced to pay fines rather than resolving the situation.
maestra, glad to hear we're on the same team!! just visiting indymedia is a step further than most teachers would probably go- it's not an avenue, for better or worse...and, while i think strikes are good and serious, i look at old time unions like the iww for other tactical possibilities. wildcat, one day strikes, can often get the point across. and how much are we just fighting for pay/to keep the job and not even the above and beyond conditions of every day life as a teacher? and, is the teacher's union in a position to move? are teachers? can they link up with the other workers at the school, many non-unionized, to make the case? substitute teacher pay is still way under other districts, except santa cruz. part timers can't get any benefits, etc. the teachers union refuses to allow these other workers to join them. how shitty is that? who's gonna get the shaft come paycheck time, negotiating time?...how much stronger would teachers be if each skool sight was more independent- linking up with other teachers/support staff/aides/etc. would be much easier, holding each job site accountable? just a few questions, expanding the realm of tactics and where we go to make change, who we seek to make alliance with and how...
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