Conejo and Simi Teachers Make 1st Move in Pay Talks

After winning salary increases last fall, the Conejo Valley teachers union is seeking a raise of at least 4% for the next school year, while Simi Valley teachers are still playing catch-up with their better-paid Thousand Oaks counterparts.

Beginning the months-long contract negotiations process, both east county teachers unions have “reopened” their current contracts in the hopes of boosting salaries in a time of relative prosperity for schools.

“We think California teachers are on the cutting edge of so many hot educational issues--immigration and bilingual education among them,” said Hal Vick, executive director for both unions. “Our teachers deserve what they’re getting [in salary] and more.”

With district counteroffers, public hearings and face-to-face negotiations to come, the proposals are far from final.

Much of a school district’s budgeting cannot be done until the state budget is signed this summer, officials say. At the same time, everyone feels better if negotiations are completed before school starts in September.

“This is very, very preliminary,” said Jody Dunlap, the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s assistant superintendent for personnel services. “I surmise that . . . we won’t conclude with anything until early fall.”

For the two union locals, the 1997-98 school year marks the end of a three-year contract.

Both proposals reflect teachers’ optimism after the dismal era of school budget cuts.

A few years ago, Conejo Valley teachers reluctantly accepted a pay cut and a shortened work year for a total salary cut of 4%. Last school year, Simi Valley teachers barely averted a strike after contract talks sputtered.

“During the economic downturn, teachers really did not make much progress in terms of getting adequate compensation,” Vick said. “Now that the financial picture has improved, we’d like to move forward.”

An estimated 790 Thousand Oaks teachers are asking for a cost-of-living raise plus a portion of any new growth money the school district will receive for the upcoming school year, Vick said. That could mean a raise of 4% to 7%.

Right now, a novice Thousand Oaks teacher starts at $30,792, while a teacher with a master’s degree and 14 years of experience earns $55,556 a year. These salaries reflect a 4.2% raise approved in October.

Given the similarity of the two districts in enrollment, number of teachers and number of schools, the poorer 800 Simi Valley teachers would like to achieve parity with their Thousand Oaks peers.

This school year, after a 3.1% raise, a beginning Simi Valley teacher makes $24,198 a year, while a teacher with 13 years of experience and a master’s degree earns $49,460.

“What we have to look at is are these districts similar?” Vick said. “Are they comparable in terms of socioeconomic status? Yes, they are. What about the size of the district? Yes, they are comparable. And the size of the budget? It’s pretty close there too.”

Salaries are not the whole story of teachers’ compensation, said Susan Parks, Simi Valley’s deputy superintendent. “When you’re looking district to district, you have to look at a lot of other things, such as benefits,” she said.

As in years past, the 650-member Simi Educators Assn. is seeking an “agency fee” from teachers who do not join the union but do enjoy the fruits of union-led salary negotiations.

Under an agency fee shop--a notch below a closed shop--teachers who do not join the union still pay a portion of dues, usually 70% to 80%, for contract negotiations but not political activities.

While the Thousand Oaks teachers union is an agency fee shop, Simi Valley teachers have been unable for the last decade to sell their trustees on the notion, which some see as forced union membership.

“Every time this has come up in recent history, the board has been consistent in not approving agency shop,” Parks said.

But two new board members and a new superintendent have been added since the last round of negotiations.

In addition, the Unified Assn. of Conejo Teachers and the Simi Educators Assn. are both seeking so-called “sick-leave banks.”

Rather than saving money in these banks, every teacher stockpiles a sick day or two each year. That way, if a teacher suffering a long-term illness uses up all of his own sick days, he can withdraw additional days from the bank without breaking his contract.

According to business office projections for the current school year, teachers’ salaries will account for roughly $39.7 million of the Conejo Valley district’s $93.1-million operating budget.

Based on Simi Valley’s projections, salaries for teachers, librarians and nurses--who are all represented by the union--will account for about $44.6 million of the $91.4-million operating budget.