Teachers, Administrators Contend for State Funds

Nearly $40 million in new state money is at stake in the coming year, and Ventura County teachers and administrators agree on this: There will be a fight at the bargaining table.

Teachers vow to push for their share to increase salaries, but administrators want to ensure that there is enough left over to pay for special education, technology and transportation programs.

“If they don’t want to use that money for teacher salaries, there is going to be a huge battle,” said Hal Vick, executive director of the teachers unions in both Simi Valley and Conejo Valley. “We believe that it’s our money. We’re the ones who went to Sacramento and fought for it.”

District officials say boosting teacher pay is indeed a priority--higher salaries lure qualified teachers, and more of them. But as administrators, they also have other priorities, such as renovating antiquated buildings and restoring music and performing arts programs that were axed during repeated budget cuts of the 1980s.

“It could lead to adversarial negotiations,” said Assistant Supt. David Gomez of the Oxnard Elementary School District. “If all the money coming from the state goes to teacher salaries, what happens to all these other programs?”

All but three districts in the county--Santa Paula, Oxnard and Rio Elementary--have finished their salary negotiations this year, with most agreeing to pay increases of between 3% and 8%. Though some districts have multiyear labor agreements, the contracts allow for renegotiation. So in the fall, salaries will again be discussed.

Gov. Gray Davis set aside $1.84 billion in unrestricted, ongoing funds for California schools in his revised budget proposal released earlier this month. If legislators approve that budget, Ventura County school districts would receive an extra $285 to $355 per student.

Based on that formula, campuses in the Conejo Valley and Simi Valley school districts would receive $6 million; Ventura schools, $5.2 million; Oxnard’s high schools, $5 million; and Oxnard’s elementary and junior high schools, $4.4 million.

Though the California Legislature has been giving schools more funding in recent years, most of that money has been earmarked for specific programs, such as reducing class sizes or ensuring school safety.

This is the first time in more than a decade that districts have been given so much money without any strings attached, educators said. Consequently, union leaders statewide say they expect salary increases of up to 10% in the 2000-01 school year.

Salaries for beginning teachers in most of Ventura County’s 20 school districts exceed the state average of $29,000, but pay varies widely. New teachers in Thousand Oaks receive $35,519, but new teachers in Ventura make $32,464, and in Fillmore, $29,279.

Salaries are mainly driven by attendance; schools get a certain amount from the state per child. But in more affluent areas, districts receive so much money from property taxes that they rely on less state money.

Santa Paula teachers said they asked for more money when they returned to the bargaining table last Thursday.

“We’re not asking for the sky,” said Carolyn Ishida, chief negotiator for the Santa Paula Federation of Teachers. The governor’s funds, she said, should make the district “loosen their purse strings a little more.”

Mia Emhardt, the federation’s president, anticipates that most unions will face a battle when they reopen negotiations on their contracts and attempt to cut up the funding pie. Emhardt said she’s optimistic that the district will give her members more money.

“But how much we get will be left up to a great and lengthy discussion,” she said. “I don’t think it is going to happen overnight.”

In El Rio, negotiations resumed last week. District officials hope to have a contract ratified soon, but know that it may be a while. Administrators and union members said they believe a struggle over the new money will not occur until next year.

Negotiations in Oxnard resume June 11 and have been contentious so far, with a state mediator being called in and more than 100 teachers crowding a school board meeting last month demanding 4% raises.

Most Ventura County administrators said they want to spend some of the new state funds on other district needs, ranging from books to bathrooms. Simi Valley wants to improve art and music programs. High schools in Oxnard and Camarillo plan to hire reading teachers. Rio Elementary wants to pay for transportation and playgrounds. And Conejo Valley Unified administrators say they want to hire counselors at the elementary schools where there are none.

But they also agree that it’s time to raise salaries. Not only do they want to compensate traditionally underpaid teachers and persuade them to stay in the district, they want to lure new recruits to the profession. About half of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years, according to the 300,000-member California Teachers Assn. And many veteran teachers say they are frustrated because they have reached the top of the salary scale with limited annual increases, and are making much less than they could in many other professions.

Mirroring statewide shortages, local school districts often have trouble filling their teaching openings, especially in math, science and special-education classes. Next year, Ventura Unified expects to hire about 60 new teachers, and Oxnard Elementary and Simi Valley Unified will each hire about 50.

Districts will have the “help wanted” signs out for some time. The state’s schools will need to hire 300,000 new teachers in the next 10 years in response to growing student enrollments, according to the California Teachers Assn. In Ventura County, officials expect to hire thousands of teachers during that time. Enrollment has jumped about 14% in the past five years and is expected to continue its climb.

“We are in a tremendous teacher shortage, and it’s only going to get worse,” said Stan Mantooth, Ventura County’s assistant superintendent of business and personnel services.

District administrators say they have to keep their salaries competitive, or they lose teachers. However, not only do they compete with other local districts for teachers, but with other industries. With the economy strong, college graduates are often lured into jobs at Internet start-ups or consulting firms, where their paychecks are far greater than they would be in a classroom.

Across the board, teachers say they don’t enter the profession to get rich. But most teachers agree that the salary often isn’t enough to pay their bills, especially in a county where the average home costs $256,000. Each year, most teachers also spend a chunk of their own money--usually between $500 and $1,000--to cover supplies, books and field trips.

“We would love to say that people enter this profession because they love it, but the reality is that you do need to feed your family,” said Barbara Kerr, a vice president of the California Teachers Assn.

Jennifer Bradbury, 36, is in her second year teaching at Glenwood Elementary School in Thousand Oaks, and makes about $35,000 a year. Bradbury applied to Conejo Valley Unified partly because she and her husband live in Thousand Oaks, and her children attend district schools. But she was also enticed because Conejo Unified offered the best starting salary in the county. Still, the paycheck doesn’t stretch far, she said.

“As a second income it’s great, but if I had to support the family, it wouldn’t work,” she said.

Bradbury said she spends between 50 and 55 hours a week at school. “Teachers are asked to do so much,” she said. “We’re asked to keep track of these kids’ health, emotional and educational needs. We really should be paid more.”

Another second-year teacher at Glenwood, 32-year-old Mark Hildebrandt, rents an apartment in Thousand Oaks. Would he like to own a home in the area? Absolutely. Could he buy a home on what he’s making now? Absolutely not.

Hildebrandt said one of his friends, who has the same level of education, is a pharmacist and makes three times what he does.

According to 1998 statistics compiled by the teachers association, teachers 22 to 28 years old earned nearly $8,000 less than other college graduates of the same age. Teachers between 44 and 50 years old earned about $23,700 less than people with similar education.

But teachers say the amount of money they get paid isn’t the only thing that keeps them with a district. They also value staff development, working conditions, facilities, school leadership and health benefits.

For example, Mupu Elementary School District pays its starting teachers the least of any district in the county--$27,473, though those with a teaching credential usually start at $28,847. The district, in Santa Paula, has just one school, six teachers and 115 students.

Supt. Jeanine Gore started as a teacher in the district in 1982 and never left. The district, she said, has very little turnover. “Teachers love this place,” she said. “They like that we’re small. They know everybody, and they have a personal commitment.”

Kevin Alvarado has been teaching in Ventura for 15 years, and earns $44,000 a year. He spends between 60 and 70 hours per week on campus, and spends several hundred dollars of his own money on classroom supplies each year.

Alvarado, 45, is divorced and pays child support for his teenage daughter. He lives frugally--he doesn’t own a home and rarely goes on vacation. But his income still doesn’t cover all his expenses.

So like many other teachers, Alvarado works a second job to help pay the bills. Every Friday night, Alvarado waits tables at Cafe Bariloche in downtown Ventura. And every year, he teaches summer school.

“This is the profession I’ve chosen and the job that I love,” he said. “I don’t expect to make great money, but it’s still kind of frustrating.”

Alvarado said he is hoping for a higher salary next year, but isn’t holding his breath. “I won’t really get excited until I see the money,” he said.

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Teacher Salaries

Salary figures are as of May 12. Three districts--Rio, Santa Paula and Oxnard Elementary--have not finished negotiations for the 1999-2000 school year.

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Maximum salary Starting (without School district salary longevity bonuses) Briggs Elementary $29,508 $55,175 Conejo Valley Unified $35,519 $64,084 Fillmore Unified $29,279 $52,753 Hueneme Elementary $32,401 $62,968 Mesa Union Elementary $27,653 $56,487 Moorpark Unified $31,999 $57,685 Mupu Elementary $27,473 $53,473 Oak Park Unified $32,236 $58,795 Ocean View Elementary $33,172 $56,589 Ojai Unified $34,873 $60,915 Oxnard Elementary $30,165 $57,866 Oxnard Union High * $35,010 $65,186 Pleasant Valley Elementary $31,999 $53,051 Rio Elementary $30,122 $56,144 Santa Clara $28,625 $51,549 Santa Paula Elementary $32,329 $53,607 Santa Paula Union High $31,999 $55,685 Simi Valley Unified $32,682 $63,918 Somis Elementary $29,170 $56,768 Ventura Unified $32,464 $55,346 Superintendent of schools office $32,567 $54,942 VENTURA COUNTY (average) $31,355 $57,056

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* Teachers in the Oxnard Union High School District worked 198 days this year as part of a pilot “extended year” program aimed at improving student achievement. Next year, they will teach 186 days.

Note: To reach the highest salary, teachers must work in the classroom a certain number of years, and must have completed a certain number of postgraduate class units. Those requirements vary from district to district.

Source: Ventura County superintendent of schools office