Teachers union not happy with raise proposal
Officials say an offer of 4.5 percent would be welcome
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Pleasant Valley teachers and their supporters urged the school board last week to act on its promise to raise their salaries and benefits.

"We've waited; we've been patient," Suzann Zeigler, president of the Pleasant Valley Education Association, told the school board on Thursday. "We're not going to wait any longer."

The union is unhappy that the district has what amounts to a 1.5 percent raise for teachers left over in the budget, a number that falls far short of covering the 18 percent health insurance increase teachers recently received.

But Pleasant Valley officials said the union has jumped the gun. Julie Cavaleri, director of certificated personnel and a member of the district negotiating team, said the district never made a formal offer of 1.5 percent but only discussed what money was left in the budget.

"They just took that and ran with it," Cavaleri said.

Cavaleri said the district plans to make a formal offer in writing to the union soon, possibly at a meeting scheduled for today.

At a union rally before Thursday's board meeting, Zeigler said that teachers would be happy with a 4.5 percent increase in salary and an additional $1,000 to $2,000 more a year from the district toward their benefits.

Zeigler said the district promised teachers a better pay raise earlier this year in exchange for their support of the school board's move to close schools in June.

"I think 'betrayed' is the right word," she said at the rally. "It really breaks the trust between the district and union because we believed them. Cut it any way you want, they lied to us."

Pleasant Valley teachers' pay ranks 16th among the 21 school districts in Ventura County. And while the average school district pays $10,000 a year towards each teacher's benefit package, Pleasant Valley pays only $6,500 a year, the lowest in the county.

Other unions report higher offers from their school districts. An official with the Oxnard Educators Association said the union is reviewing a 4.3 percent offer from the Oxnard School District. And an official with the Hueneme Education Association said they expect contract talks that begin this week with the same school district to start at 5.3 percent.

Individual pay varies according to a teacher's level of education and time with the district. Salaries in Pleasant Valley range from $44,000 a year for beginning teachers up to about $76,000 for a 30-year veteran.

Pleasant Valley district and union officials are expected to resume contract talks today.