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Friday Sept 30, 2022
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“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill
Ventura Unified School District teachers protest, challenge and dispute one percent raise
“If you want s***** teachers to do this, give s***** pay. If you want teachers who give a s*** and are here for the kids and work hard, pay more,” said an anonymous VUSD teacher Avery Cameron On Aug. 23, 2022, Ventura Unified School District employees gathered for VUSD’s annual Welcome Back Celebration. While the event was intended to celebrate the new school year, many VUSD employees wore red in order to protest their pay raise of one percent, although VUSD received a 13 percent budget increase. On arrival Ventura Unified Education Association [VUEA] members passed out red posters which said, “We LOVE the kids, For ALL were worth,” “Financial Stability = Emotional Health,” and more. Ray Stevens, a VUSD teacher at Portola Elementary, wore red at the celebration. She said, “[I’m wearing red] because the district is offering us a one percent raise which is ridiculous in these times and the fact that they got 13 percent [raised]. So we’re like really? That’s what we’re worth? We’re trying to band together and show support for our students, for our teachers, for our cafeteria workers, for everybody.” “We’re hoping that [VUSD admistration] get back to the tables and have a negotiation that makes sense. We’d like a 12 percent raise, but they’re offering us one percent. We need [our salaries] to move up and we need it to move up significantly. This is not a time for [administration] to be like ‘teachers don’t matter, we’re dealing with stuff with COVID[-19].’ Parents and families are all having trouble with getting back into the school system and the teachers are the ones in the trenches. We’re out there everyday and we’re doing it for the kids they deserve to be paid,” said Stevens. “Teachers and school
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staff, dressed in red, carrying signs and banners, chanting and proclaiming their outrage and disappointment at the district’s failure to honor, appreciate and respect their work [at VUSD’s Welcome Back Celebration],” said VUEA Vice President Sebastien DeClerck in a letter to the editor published by the VC Star. According to the VUEA website page “All is not well at VUSD: where we are Fall 2022,” “VUSD has received a funding increase of over 13 percent for the school year 2022-2023 [Summer 2022]. VUSD has offered the workers of the district, both certificated and ESP [Education Support Professionals] a one percent on-going increase and a four percent bonus [Summer 2022].” “Many VUEA members are angry at the difference between what VUSD has received and what they are willing to provide to the employees. Why are we angry? Inflation has hit all of us. Rents are high and getting higher. Food, gas, utilities: it’s all going up and out of our reach,” according to the site. “[The raise is] disrespectful and a slap in the face, after years of COVID[-19] and extra work we’ve been putting in and the surrounding districts getting paid six to 12 percent more. [For VUSD] to retain quality staff you have to have a decent living wage. It is expensive to live in Ventura, and Oxnard is making 109 [thousand] at year 10, when at VUSD will never get there. Our highest wage is at 20 years which is like 95 [thousand],” said a VUSD teacher at the celebration who remains anonymous. At VUSD, the highest salary is from a teacher with a “Bachelor Degree plus 75 Sem
Graph displaying data from teacher salaries from Oxnard and Santa Paula school districts, which have higher salaries compared to VUSD. Graphic by: Avery Cameron
Units and Master’s Degree,” they would make $98,645 after 25 years according to the 2021-22 Certified Salary Schedule from VUSD. While at Oxnard School District, including Oxnard elementary and middle schools, the same teacher with the same credentials and years, would make over $14,000more per year, at $112,721 according to the 2021-22 Salary Schedule from OSD. From a spreadsheet
degree in education. I have to work a second job to afford food and a mortgage. I have put off having kids because my husband and I are not sure we can afford daycare and now with inflation it’s even worse,” said a anonymous respondent who would not accept the raise. “VUEA members want to help kids and families. That’s why we got into education in the first place. Kids need a lot right now, and
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On Aug. 23, VUSD employees gathered for the annual Welcome Back Celebration, VUEA members wore red in order to protest their raise of one percent. Photo from: VUEA website
shared by DeClerck, data shows that VUSD has received a “Total Salary Raise” from 2014-2015 to 2021-2022 of 14.5 percent, while other Ventura County districts received as much as a 23 percent increase. “This [raise] is a f****** INSULT! Our district sees NO worth in its employees who are not principals or ‘higher up.’ I’m disgusted to have worked for this district for the past 35 years. Should have gone to Oxnard when I could have,” said an anonymous respondent from the VUEA Negotiations Survey. The survey asked one question; “If you had to vote on this today, would you ratify [or accept] one percent on-schedule and four percent off-salary schedule?” Out of the 257 VUSD teachers who responded, 249 would not accept, while eight would. One anonymous respondent that would accept said, “Health care is very important to me.” Another anonymous respondent said, “I have found my salary to be adequate for our families needs. Of course, I would accept more, but I do not feel the demand more at this time.” “This is my ninth year in the district. I have a master’s
the classroom teachers and the counselors are there for all kids. However, we can’t help kids if VUSD won’t help us. VUSD has received a funding increase of over 13 percent for the school year 2022-2023 [Summer 2022],” said VUEA on their site. VUSD held their monthly board meeting on Sept. 13 where the budget, salaries and more was discussed. “[VUEA] estimated more than 200 of their combined 1,600 members attended the meeting,” said Isaiah Murtaugh in the VC Star article “Ventura educators pack school board meeting over pay dispute, living cost increase.” VUSD will return to negotiations later this month with revised data that will include 8.7 percent more than the 2021-2022 school year’s base funding. At the meeting, Ventura Unified School Board President Sabrena Rodriguez said that stipulations came with some of the new money VUSD received, and that VUSD is still researching in order to see if it is eligible to go to teacher salaries. Article is updated as of Sept. 26. An updated version is available on thecougarpress. org.
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