District puts hold on teachers’ raises
CITY HALL — Public school teachers best not go on a shopping spree just yet.
While the public schools teachers union was anticipating the school board signing off on a tentative 5-percent pay raise next month, it now appears that teachers may have to wait until the new year to procure a heftier paycheck.
The general consensus among Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school board members at their meeting on Thursday was to wait after learning the district might not be able to bear the financial impact of the 5-percent pay hike.
The school board reached a tentative agreement with the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association on Oct. 16, after the union presented its proposal for a raise in June.
The decision to postpone contract ratification came after board members received information that the district’s AB1200 — a financial plan submitted to the county on Oct. 13 — showed a 5-percent pay raise would have substantial impact on the school’s budget, beginning in the second year and into the third year,forcing the district to dip into its reserves.
“These are pretty serious implications,” said the district’s Financial Oversight Committee Chairman Paul Silvern, alluding to his report to the board last week.
The findings from the AB1200 prompted Los Angeles County to send a letter to outgoing School Board President Julia Brownley seeking a recovery plan that outlined how the district intended to balance the budget.
Silvern suggested the board postpone its vote on the contract, which was to have occurred at the next meeting, on Dec. 14, to allow the district to strike out any information about the pay raise in the first interim financial report to the state.
A deferment on the vote would provide the state with a picture of the school board’s finances minus the terms of the contract, giving the school board the potential to receive positive certification in the first interim.
A point of concern for the FOC was that both negotiating parties reached the agreement without considering the financial implication of a 5-percent pay raise, Silvern said.
“The strategy is only now being formulated after the agreement was reached by bargaining parties,” Silvern said. “It should’ve been done the opposite way.”
Not only would this undermine the public’s confidence in the district’s ability to handle its finances, it could have detrimental effects on a future measure to increase parcel taxes to help fund the schools programs, Silvern said.
But the decision was not reached in a vacuum, countered Board President Kathy Wisnicki.
“It was not an emotional decision,” Wisnicki said of the tentative agreement.
Several residents spoke out in concern over the process by which the agreement was reached, complaining about the lack of transparency and the lack of availability in public records.
"The process itself is very flawed,” said resident and parent Chris Harding. “There should not have to be a tussle to get public information.
If ratification next month could jeopardize the school district, the teachers association would support deferring the vote, said Association President Harry Keiley.
The agreement was reached in good faith between both parties and the raise is long overdue in a city where teachers can hardly afford to live, Keiley said.
The cost of living in Santa Monica is so expensive, the district has an average staff turnover rate of 100 teachers per year, Keiley said.
The last time the teachers association received a pay hike was for the 2005-06 school year, when salaries increased by 3 percent. The raise was below the county average for that same time period, when Santa Monica-Malibu Unified ranked 27th out of 47 school districts in the county for salary increases, Keiley said.
If the agreement is eventually ratified, it would take effect July 1 of next year, in time for the 2007-08 school year.
Board members agreed that the teachers in the school district should receive pay raises, but parted ways ideologically as to whether they should stick to the 5-percent figure.
Outgoing school board member Shane McLoud, who is a public school teacher, believes the process could erode public confidence in the district and supports restructuring the agreement.
He also called the process political, in that school board members up for reelection do try to receive endorsements from the very same teachers association with which they negotiate a contract agreement.
The meeting was McLoud’s final as a board member. “It’s ironic that this is the last item I speak on as a board member and I come across as someone who is not in support of this contract, and I’m a teacher,” McLoud said.
The school board might not have fully thought out the implications of a 5-percent pay raise, but it should stand by the tentative agreement with the teachers association, said board member Maria Leon-Vazquez.
“At the same time, I do believe we should take a step backwards to look slowly at how we are going to look in terms of the future of the budget to make sure we can comply and move forward,” added Leon-Vazquez.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 20, 2006. Read the original PDF.