Teachers to receive pay raise
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Teachers in the Pleasant Valley School District will get an 8 percent raise over the next five months, costing the district nearly $1 million.

The raise, which the school board approved last week, will cost the district $957,000. Next year, the district will pay $2 million for the increase in teachers' salaries.

The raise covers from Feb. 1 to June 30, and is not retroactive, Assistant Superintendent Jan Maez said.

The district and 360-member Pleasant Valley Education Association will begin contract negotiations in May for the 2007-08 school year.

Pleasant Valley teachers had earned between $39,000 and $64,800 a year after a 2.5 percent raise last year. They'll receive between $42,000 and $70,000 with the new increase.

District and union officials agree that teachers are underpaid compared to those in similar districts, such as the Hueneme School District. Hueneme teachers, who received a 6.5 percent raise last year, are paid between $41,000 and $80,000 a year.

As with the Pleasant Valley School District, Hueneme is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade district. It has about the same number of students as does Pleasant Valley but operates fewer schools.

Pleasant Valley will likely shutter one or more of its campuses. Although district officials haven't said for certain that any schools will be closed, in their collective bargaining agreement with the union, they said in next year's budget they are "considering other significant budget saving through school closures" to pay for the raises.

And Superintendent Ken Moffett has said Pleasant Valley should close at least three schools or the results could be "disastrous."

The district would not only run more efficiently, Moffett said, but offer more to students, such as homework clubs and after-school enrichment programs. He also said the closures will help the district pay teachers a more competitive salary.

Since January, a committee has been considering whether the district should close schools, how many and which ones. Its recommendation is expected to go before the school board at a televised meeting March 1.

Union backs closures

A group of Tierra Linda Elementary teachers voiced their support for larger schools at the board meeting last week.

Larger schools mean more "luxuries," such as upgrades to computer labs, and more teachers at each grade level, a teacher said.

Laura Cornish, a speech and language specialist, said larger schools would allow teachers to pool their time and money to create "wonderful programs that are not affordable at smaller schools."

Larger schools can also afford to have full-time specialists on campus, while smaller schools must share speech therapists and resource specialists who typically work with special education students.

Suzann Zeigler, union president, said the union supports a fiscally responsible school district and would back the district should the board decide to close schools.

Moffett has said that raising teachers' pay to at least the county average could keep Pleasant Valley from becoming a training ground for other districts. Teachers tend to leave around the third year, before the district can reap its financial investment in their training, Moffett said.

Zeigler agrees. "The district has a reputation for excellent training; it really does work against us," she said.

Although Zeigler didn't know the number of teachers who've left in recent years for higher pay, she said it has happened often enough to attract the attention of the union and district.

Contending with less pay while living in an expensive county, Pleasant Valley teachers also pay more in health expenses than teachers in most other districts, Zeigler said.

Teachers in neighboring districts pay little or nothing for health benefits, but every Pleasant Valley teacher has to pay some outofpocket expense with a few paying as much as $700 a month for their families, she said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District recently agreed to give a 6 percent raise to its teachers and pay for full health care benefits.

Zeigler expects upcoming contract talks with the district to focus on health care benefits.