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“The advisory recommendations
ignore the needs of our students, our schools and our community. Teacher
turnover hurts kids, so this contract must help this district attract and
retain quality people for Yuba City students,” declared Yuba City Teachers
Association (YCTA) President Dina Luetgens as she read through the
fact-finder’s report that was released today.
She noted the chair’s
advisory recommendations also ignored the financial health of the Yuba City
Unified School District (YCUSD) and the Local Control Accountability Plan
(LCAP), which outlines how school funds will be spent. “In its LCAP, our
school district pledged teacher recruitment and retention is a priority.
YCUSD has been forced to attend out-of-state teacher recruitment fairs and employ
interns and substitutes because highly qualified teachers are not attracted
to the district’s compensation package and are discouraged by the district’s
unprofessional treatment.”
Records show 42 teachers resigned
and 17 retired at the end of the 2015-16 school year. School starts next
month and there are 40 unfilled positions. The district has filled six
positions by hiring interns, and teachers are concerned about the number of
classrooms that will not have fully-credentialed teachers.
The YCUSD never claimed they could
not afford the teachers’ proposal, Luetgens noted. During the fact-finding
hearing a review of the YCUSD's current financial status and multi-year
projections showed that the district can afford to invest in creating a
competitive salary schedule that will attract and retain quality educators to
Yuba City.
“We would never ask for something
that the district could not provide,” Luetgens said.
The advisory recommendations come
from the chair of the fact-finding panel, the final step in the negotiations
process under the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA). “We will
continue to review the entire report for a possible settlement. We will
consider all our options, including the possibility of a strike. We remain ready
to reach an agreement, but our commitment to our students and our community
is unwavering,” declared Luetgens. “Without competitive salaries during this
growing teacher shortage, our district will not be able to attract and retain
great teachers for every child in every classroom in Yuba City Unified.”
“I’m afraid Superintendent Nancy
Aaberg and the school board are misleading the community and taking advantage
of the hard-working parents in Yuba City who may not realize their school
district is running good people out because of their disrespectful behavior,”
she said. “Yuba City teachers are standing up for students and fighting for
the future of the schools and community. There is no more important
expenditure than investing in a stable and highly qualified team of teachers
to work directly with our students.”
A possible strike remains on the
table as the local teachers consider all options. Members voted
overwhelmingly in May to authorize YCTA’s executive board to call a strike in
the event a contract settlement is not reached. A strike is legal upon
completion of the fact-finding process. Teachers have been preparing for a
possible strike, training strike captains and trying to determine how a
possible strike will play out. “We are prepared to make this sacrifice
for our students and our community,” said Luetgens. “We don’t want to strike,
but we will for our students, our schools, and our community.”
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