District Offers Conejo Teachers 10% Pay Hike

The union representing teachers in the Conejo Valley Unified School District won more than a 10% pay raise offer, a sign the teachers’ solidarity paid off, union President Susan Falk said Thursday.

Last month, more than 300 teachers converged on a school board meeting to demand at least a 10% raise after the state sent the district about $10 million in extra money. After the state reported a total budget surplus of $12 billion, the Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis agreed to send an extra $1.8 billion to school districts throughout the state.

That money, union leaders said, meant double-digit raises for teachers, but the district initially disagreed and offered less than a 10% raise.

But after the appearance of the angry teachers at the Sept. 25 meeting, the district’s negotiating team reconsidered its offer and reached a deal Tuesday with the union that will keep the teachers among the highest-paid in the county.

The tentative agreement, union leaders said, will give the nearly 1,100 teachers a 10.24% raise, with about 6% applied retroactively to August. The remaining 4% will come in February.

Teachers will vote next week on the deal. Union leaders said membership should take it, because the district has already spent much of the $10 million, which teachers initially wanted to all go for raises, on other programs.

Chief teachers negotiator Bev Haddad said the union was “not wildly enthusiastic about the settlement” but “it is the best we could do under the circumstances.”