Bargaining bulletin:This bulletin is meant to provide another avenue for our community to understand the ongoing negotiations process between Harmony Union Teachers Association (HUTA) and Harmony Union School District.
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HUTA BARGAINING BULLETIN, MAY 2019
The Harmony Teacher’s Association and HUSD are at impasse and have had one mediation session. The teachers voted against the mediated settlement that emerged from that session because it represented virtually no movement on the District’s part while the teachers have made large concessions. At this time, we are waiting to hear whether we will go to the fact-finding step in the process or return to mediation.
Responses to the District Negotiations Bulletin #2:
THE DISTRICT PROVIDES SEVERAL CHARTS, WHICH ARE MISLEADING BECAUSE THEY CONFLATE OR DISREGARD NUMBERS.
1. The first adds our health and welfare benefits to our salaries and then compares these numbers to state averages, which do not include health and welfare benefits. This is comparing apples and oranges. The District even acknowledges later in their own bulletin that, “state averages do not take into consideration health/welfare.”
2. The District then makes the case that our district compensation should be compared to other small schools only, providing a chart that compares HUSD teacher salaries to average salaries for school districts with ADA less than 1000. We find this problematic for the following reasons:
a. We don’t see why teachers working at smaller schools should be paid less. In fact, teachers working in smaller
schools tend to take on a larger share of responsibilities.
b. Many of the small schools in California are in remote, rural areas that have a much lower cost of living than
Sonoma County.
c. While we continue to believe that the most accurate comparative metric is the overall statewide average, one
small pool that may provide more telling information would be to compare our district with basic aid districts.
Basic aid districts are wealthier districts that receive their revenue from local property taxes. We are currently
not a Basic Aid District, because we have been “bumped out” of this status due to our carrying a charter
(Pathways). Because of this, we receive compensatory revenue of approximately 1.5 million dollars per year
(Basic Aid Supplemental). Were we to be compared to other Basic Aid districts, our salaries would be well below
their averages. As cited in a recent Sonoma West Times and News article, “Wealthy districts, which are allowed
by the state to pay for schools out of local property taxes, generally pay their teachers better than most. (There
are about 30 of these so-called “basic aid” districts out of the 977 school districts in California.)”
CLASSROOM SUPPORTS ARE IN PLACE TO IMPROVE EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS, NOT TO MAKE TEACHERS’ JOBS “EASIER.”
In referring to “nuances” not captured in salaries and health/welfare benefits, the District bulletin also insinuates that HUSD teachers have it easy, citing instructional aides, prep time, and work day. This is an ongoing perspective clash between the District and HUTA. From our perspective, instructional aides and the existence of prep time directly benefit students. Without aides and prep time, teachers would be limited in their ability to plan engaging projects and to deliver small group and one-on-one instruction. They do not exist to make our work lives easier. Finally, anyone who has ever known a teacher knows that a teacher’s workday continues well into many evenings and weekends. HUSD teachers all work well past their contracted hours.
Finally:
We appreciate HUSD parents’ efforts to reach out to the Board on our behalf. Board member Goff has responded to many parents with claims that HUSD teachers are the highest paid teachers in the county. This is simply untrue, and we encourage parents to request that Mr. Goff provide evidence with current numbers to support his claim.
THE DISTRICT PROVIDES SEVERAL CHARTS, WHICH ARE MISLEADING BECAUSE THEY CONFLATE OR DISREGARD NUMBERS.
1. The first adds our health and welfare benefits to our salaries and then compares these numbers to state averages, which do not include health and welfare benefits. This is comparing apples and oranges. The District even acknowledges later in their own bulletin that, “state averages do not take into consideration health/welfare.”
2. The District then makes the case that our district compensation should be compared to other small schools only, providing a chart that compares HUSD teacher salaries to average salaries for school districts with ADA less than 1000. We find this problematic for the following reasons:
a. We don’t see why teachers working at smaller schools should be paid less. In fact, teachers working in smaller
schools tend to take on a larger share of responsibilities.
b. Many of the small schools in California are in remote, rural areas that have a much lower cost of living than
Sonoma County.
c. While we continue to believe that the most accurate comparative metric is the overall statewide average, one
small pool that may provide more telling information would be to compare our district with basic aid districts.
Basic aid districts are wealthier districts that receive their revenue from local property taxes. We are currently
not a Basic Aid District, because we have been “bumped out” of this status due to our carrying a charter
(Pathways). Because of this, we receive compensatory revenue of approximately 1.5 million dollars per year
(Basic Aid Supplemental). Were we to be compared to other Basic Aid districts, our salaries would be well below
their averages. As cited in a recent Sonoma West Times and News article, “Wealthy districts, which are allowed
by the state to pay for schools out of local property taxes, generally pay their teachers better than most. (There
are about 30 of these so-called “basic aid” districts out of the 977 school districts in California.)”
CLASSROOM SUPPORTS ARE IN PLACE TO IMPROVE EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS, NOT TO MAKE TEACHERS’ JOBS “EASIER.”
In referring to “nuances” not captured in salaries and health/welfare benefits, the District bulletin also insinuates that HUSD teachers have it easy, citing instructional aides, prep time, and work day. This is an ongoing perspective clash between the District and HUTA. From our perspective, instructional aides and the existence of prep time directly benefit students. Without aides and prep time, teachers would be limited in their ability to plan engaging projects and to deliver small group and one-on-one instruction. They do not exist to make our work lives easier. Finally, anyone who has ever known a teacher knows that a teacher’s workday continues well into many evenings and weekends. HUSD teachers all work well past their contracted hours.
Finally:
We appreciate HUSD parents’ efforts to reach out to the Board on our behalf. Board member Goff has responded to many parents with claims that HUSD teachers are the highest paid teachers in the county. This is simply untrue, and we encourage parents to request that Mr. Goff provide evidence with current numbers to support his claim.
HUTA Bargaining Bulletin, February 2019
While HUTA recognizes movement by the HUSD bargaining team in the last session, we still believe there is room to make our salaries competitive with the state average teacher pay, which is significantly higher than ours. We believe the District can afford the raise that we are seeking and that an investment in teachers continues to be money well spent. Finally, we ask that the HUSD Board chart a new course with regard to our financial narrative and planning.
Recapping Salary Proposals:
October 18th, 2018
District’s Proposal:
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HUTA’s Proposal:
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January 23rd, 2019
District’s Counter Proposal:
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HUTA’s Counter Proposal:
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1. District salaries are not keeping up with the cost of living in Sonoma County.
- Housing, healthcare, childcare, college costs, and the ability to afford to retire are all serious concerns for our teachers. The Sonoma County median home price was $685,000 in July 2018.
- Between 2002 and 2017, the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 32.9%, while on-schedule salary raises have only increased by 34.78% during the same time period. The 1.88% pay increase over 15 years is not commensurate with teachers’ contractually increased work hours and responsibilities.
- One-time bonuses are not desirable for teachers; they don’t figure into retirement benefits, and they amount to a pay cut once they time out.
- In 2017-18 teachers elected not to receive a salary increase when the District claimed it was deficit spending. We now see that as the District continues to deficit spend, it is simultaneously increasing its reserves.
- We believe that as long as the District has such large reserves, it has, at a minimum, an ethical obligation to keep up with the rate of inflation and cost of living increases.
2. Teachers in our District are paid significantly less than the state average.
- Based on the last J-90 form, in 2016-17 Harmony teachers earned 14% less than the state average. Harmony teachers currently earn 16% less than the average for California state teachers.
- Average home prices in Sonoma County are 19% above the state average.
- Because of the statistical sample size across California, comparing local wages to the average state wage is a valid metric. Furthermore, statewide averages are used in the SARC.
3. The District has enough reserves to simultaneously pay teachers adequately and maintain financial stability.
- According to the unaudited actuals, the District’s unrestricted ending balance is $3,895,357, with an 81.62% reserve and is projected to grow this year to 84.47%. A 5% reserve is the legal requirement, and a 17-20% reserve is recommended for small schools in California.
- Basic Aid Supplemental (BAS) revenue has increased by $182,000 in the past few years, and according to District budget projections, BAS at its present rate will continue for the duration of our contract with Pathways through June, 2024. In November 2017, the FCMAT consultant stated that the District can rely on Basic Aid Supplemental as an ongoing funding source.
- Monies set aside in various funds may no longer be needed for their original purposes. For example, in 2016 $414,500 was set aside in Fund 40 (Capital Outlay Projects) to build new classrooms in case of growth. Since then, we have secured bond money for building projects and decided not to grow. What is the current allocation for this fund? What is the plan for the remainder of Fund 17 after the special education settlement is paid off? Which deferred maintenance funds were freed up with the bond funds?
4. The District should develop a realistic and transparent contingency plan.
- Increasing the Budget Stabilization Fund to match our District’s yearly revenue as per Resolution No. 2018/19-6 for one year is not realistic, as there would never be a scenario in which all our annual revenues would be lost.
- Should we lose BAS revenue, the District would likely revert back to Basic Aid status. The District should calculate what our revenues would be in this scenario and plan accordingly.
- We believe the District should devise a detailed and multi-step contingency plan in the unlikely event that we lose revenue, instead of just saving large amounts of money without a plan in place.
5. Teacher salaries should be prioritized along with other expenditures.
- HUTA is grateful that the board has prioritized healthcare for staff members.
- Harmony teachers do not have the highest salaries in the county. We fall behind Sebastopol, Piner-Olivet, Mark West, SCOE and Waugh when comparing average salary.
- According to the Unaudited Actuals, the district only spent 61.37% on “Percent of Current Cost of Education Expended for Classroom Compensation” last year. Given our high revenues and reserves, it is noteworthy that our district is just barely meeting Ed Code’s minimum requirement of 60%.
- The District has increased other expenditures, such as administrative salaries.