Black Student Union hosts Black History Month

icans in class was slavery and Jim Crow,” Conaway said. “ at was it. No one told me about the triumphs, the innovation, the genius and the creativity.” will receive a 7% pay increase after the Board of Education approved a negotiated agreement reached by the unions e deal, retroactive for the 2022-2023 school year, increases employee pay by 7% excluding the district’s top six administrators. A 5% raise retroactive to the start of the school year and a 2% one-time payment will be given e Palo Alto Educators Association and the California School Employees Association e agreements were separate, with the district negotiating with e Palo Alto Managers Association represents administrators but did not participate in negotiations. e 7% increase is higher than previous increases. In the past two years, employees have received a 3% pay increase. PAEA President Teri Baldwin attributed the ation. e reason for a higher salary increase is that we are trying to keep pace with the cost of living and ation increases over the years,” ation rate was 8% compared with an average yearly rate of 1.88%

PAUSD Deputy Superintendent Trent Bahadursingh said the district’s main focus during negotiations was on making smart

“A lot of (the agreement) depended on nancially,” Bahadursingh scally responsible while still considering the compensation we give to sta .”

Bahadursingh said the increase will allow the district to recruit more experienced sta Furthermore, Bahadursingh said retaining and recruiting high-quality teachers will directly impact students’ education.

“Like any business, the goal is attracting and retaining sta ,” Bahadursingh said. “PAUSD’s prestige and salary makes us very competitive.” ary’s Black History Month, the Black Student Union and ASB will host events including guest speakers, a multicultural day, a Mardi Gras celebration and a PRIME to learn about historic Black gures.

Carter Blair, president of the BSU, said the club has planned several new events throughout the month.

“We plan on having a second guest speaker later in the month, hosting the San Jose State University step team and having a (historically black college and university) T-shirt day for BSU and Multicultural club members,” Blair said. “Finally, we’re planning a school-wide Mardi Gras celebration with traditional Creole food and decorations.” is year, they came to us and made sure that we were aware that if we had an event that could bene t the entire student body, we could very easily receive funding for that,” Blair said. “ at’s enabled us to do a lot more than we thought was previously possible given our capacity to fundraise as a club rather than as a school.”

Blair said ASB has supported BSU this year by helping fund these events.

In addition to school events, librarian Sima omas said she will arrange several displays to promote Black literature.

Yolanda Conaway, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Equity and Student A airs, said PAUSD also hopes to promote the signi cance of Black History Month throughout the year.

“Honoring and commemorating the contributions of African Americans in this society is important every month, not just in February,” Conaway said.

“We (want to) gure out how to (expose) our community, students and sta to the positive contributions of African Americans and not just the negative stereotypes.”

Conaway said Black History Month also tackles the lack of inclusion, which is exacerbated by how Black history is taught.

Conway said these classes often focus on the setbacks of Africans and African-Americans rather than their accomplishments.

“As a student, the only thing I learned about African-Amer

Sophomore Eyiloluwasefunmi Ogunlade said she agrees.

“Most of the time (when) we learn about Black history, it’s just about some Black man being prosecuted,” Ogunlade said.

Mary Sano, the instructional leader of the Social Science department, said despite the challenge of accurately educating students on Black history, the department is constantly working toward improving curriculum.

“ e teachers in our department are consistently re ective and thoughtful about our task, (which) includes adhering to the state standards, keeping an eye on the larger conversation about teaching history — both nationally and locally — and of course, trying to meet all of our students’ needs,” Sano said. “We have been working on shifting the approach of the way Black history is taught and addressed, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation that was started last school year between the BSU and our e orts.”

Conaway said part of the 2023 PAUSD Promise re ects “Equity and Excellence,” with an emphasis on the service and celebration of others to build community and diversity.

“(Celebrating Black History Month) falls squarely into the (PAUSD) promise and an element in the promise called our SWIFT plan,” Conaway said. e Systemwide Integrated Framework for Transformation, or SWIFT, is a plan to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in the district and at Paly where only about 2% of the student population is Black.

Blair said schoolwide observances of Black History Month can be used to mitigate these racial disparities.

“With so few Black students, a lot of people don’t really consider the weight Black history carries,” Blair said. “Having an opportunity to promote it schoolwide gets a lot of people thinking.”

In addition, Conaway said that the small population of Black students should not a ect Paly’s celebration of Black History Month.

“It (shouldn’t) make a di erence at all whether we had one student or 1,000,” Conaway said. “It’s important not just (for) black students to have exposure to the positive contributions of African Americans, but it’s just as important for white students and students of all cultures to have that experience because otherwise, they walk away with one narrative.”

Bene ts of the pay increases extend not only to PAUSD sta Math teacher Daniel Nguyen, who is part of the PAEA Rep. Council and also part of the Negotiations Team, said better compensation allows teachers to focus more on their students rather than on making a living.

“When (teachers) can focus on their jobs more, they may be more likely to supervise clubs, maybe coach sports, maybe stay after school or come before school to help students,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said while the negotiations process usually begins in the fall, this year’s negotiations ended much earlier than usual.

“ e last time we had a tentative agreement, it was reached at the end of April,” Nguyen said. “ is time, we were able to get a tentative agreement at the beginning of December. e process was a lot smoother and a lot faster this time around.”

In addition to salary increases and medical bene ts, unions also negotiate on class size, working conditions and leave provisions, which are part of PAUSD’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Even though pay has steadily risen for teachers, many educators in California are still dissatis ed. In a 2021 national survey conducted by the Teacher Salary Project, over 82% of 1,200 classroom teachers surveyed said they have worked at multiple jobs to make a living.

With all that in mind, Nguyen said he is grateful to work in PAUSD where sta currently earn between $71,484 and $144,239.

“We have a lot of privilege living in this area,” Nguyen said. “We are fortunate to live in a strong economic area where the district will still be in a strong nancial situation, even with this agreement.”