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Burbank Unified teachers march for better wages

Members of the Burbank Teachers Assn. gather at Burbank High School before marching to City Hall on Thursday. The protest was for better wages, among other issues.
(Tim Berger/Staff Photographer)
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Close to 200 Burbank Unified educators, parents, students and retirees marched for higher teacher and staff wages, improved healthcare compensation and other concerns before a school board meeting Thursday, while more than a dozen spoke during the proceedings.

The activities began with a rally on the steps of Burbank High at 5 p.m. and ended near 11:30 p.m. at Burbank City Hall as members of the Burbank Teachers Assn. voiced their concerns about the district’s perceived “disrespect” regarding contract negotiations.

“I know the board isn’t going to commit to anything today, but what I want most is an awareness of how difficult things are for the majority of teachers, and we can’t go backward,” said Diana Abasta, the teacher association’s president.

“When you run a business, your employees are part of your overhead, so to speak, and you can’t leave their livelihood to chance. You can’t keep blaming the state for lacks of funds. Someway, somehow, they have to be paid,” she added.

Abasta’s comments come as the district is in the early stages of negotiations with the teachers union.

On April 6, the district offered a 1% retroactive raise to July 1, 2017, and a 1% off-schedule bonus guarantee, with the potential of two additional 1% raises in the future should the district receive more money from the state and if a city parcel-tax proposal passes at the polls.

That offer was widely dismissed by those marching.

Burbank Teachers Association President Diana Abasta talks with the members who gathered at Burbank High School on Thursday. Members of the Burbank Teachers Association marched from Burbank High School to Burbank City Hall to protest for better pay.
(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer )

Since April 9, the association has been releasing figures via its Twitter account — @BurbankTchrAssn — comparing Burbank Unified’s pay rate versus neighboring districts.

According to the data, teachers in the Alhambra Unified School District make $5,000 more annually than Burbank educators, while that total jumps to $7,000 in Long Beach, $8,000 in Arcadia and $10,000 in Monrovia.

That theme galvanized between 175 and 200 employees who met in front of Burbank High, held a half-hour rally and then marched to City Hall.

One of the speakers at the rally was David B. Goldberg, secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Assn.

“I’m here to lend my voice of support representing 300,000 members of CTA, and we’re all about standing up for educator rights and the rights of students,” Goldberg said. “Ultimately, many issues come down to money, and money equals respect. We acknowledge that, at the end of the day, for all [of] us to get what we deserve, we’re going to need more money from the state.”

As the crowd was escorted from Burbank High by the Burbank Police Department, there were intermittent chants and songs before a gathering in front of the water fountain at City Hall.

Inside the school board meeting, 17 of the evening’s overall 25 speakers supported a better offer from the district.

“This year, our checks went backwards,” said Deborah Baird, second-grade teacher at Miller Elementary. “More medical was taken out. OK, how did this affect us? Well, for me, all my bills went up along with this. My bills went up $300 in the last five months. ... That’s reality.”

Burbank High math teacher Kendall Roberg brought a comparative chart of salary schedules to show how much more his eight years of experience and master’s degree would net him in the Hart Union High School District as well as districts in Los Angeles, San Marino, Glendale, Saugus, La Cañada, South Pasadena and Arcadia versus Burbank. The largest difference was a $15,000 gap between Arcadia and Burbank.

“Can we start looking at these other districts and find out how they handle money and how they’re able to offer these salaries?” Roberg pondered aloud to immediate applause.

“Every district is unique and every district is treated differently by the state and how they’re funded, but at least some of these have to be somewhat similar to Burbank, and they have good ideas and they can somehow offer these types of salaries,” Roberg added.

Burbank Unified physical education instructor Nicole Drabecki echoed the sentiment of many fellow teachers in remarking that patience with the district was growing thin.

“I’m sure it’s hard to give the teachers what they want when the superintendent is saying they do not have the money,” Drabecki said. “We waited all last year for a raise, and we got nothing. You also made us pay $300 more for healthcare … Sounds like your deal isn’t very good at all, and my vote is no.”

The public-comment portion of the meeting began at 7:44 p.m. and closed at 9:16 p.m., though many teachers stayed to hear a response from Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill, who tried to address some of the concerns raised.

Hill said that, although it seems negotiations are dragging on, it was never his intent to start talks before April, despite past superintendents negotiating earlier.

Hill did acknowledge teacher’s “frustrations” and added that he and school board members think “that a cost-of-living adjustment is essential. So, we have to figure out how to get there.”

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter @campadresports

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