Teachers 'shocked' by 2 percent raise proposal

Shocked is the only the word that describes the feeling of the Pleasant Valley Education Association's negotiations team when the discussion finally rolled around to teachers' salary increase offered by Pleasant Valley School District officials during contract negotiations on Fri., Feb. 22.

The teachers union and the district had worked well together all morning and actually had reached a tentative agreement on association rights. Members of the teachers union, of which I am president, had discussed 4/5 prep and made a proposal which was accepted in part. We had offered other proposals on a number of subjects, including job sharing, and felt as if we were making good progress.

During the discussion of the state budget and the impact it would have on the district, Superintendent Luis Villegas simply said, "We want to do something for our teachers, so we're offering 2 percent however you want it, on salary, benefits or both." It is beyond my understanding why he would pull the four teachers on the negotiations team away from their classrooms for that type of proposal.

To first make an offer of 3 percent and then turn around and offer a raise of only 2 percent is grounds for an unfair labor practice. Thus, the union will file a grievance against the district- the second one this year.

At this point, I don't have any trust or faith in the district's claim that they will "always make teachers a priority." They are hiding behind the state's financial woes as an opportunity to once again cheat Pleasant Valley teachers out of fair compensation.

The fact is the state is not making any school budget cuts this school year.

The district did receive costof-living adjustment increases this year from the state, and, in fact, has extra funds because it did not lose state funding for students now attending the charter, the Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education. Understanding that next year will not be a good year for salary or benefit increases, the district should give teachers raises that meet costofliving increases for this year.

Dr. Villegas claims the district does not want labor unrest. From the e-mails and comments I've received since Friday, I'd say he did nothing on Friday to improve the situation. Instead, some teachers we've never heard from or seen are now actively voicing their discontent.

I saw a sign made by one of the teachers on Monday morning that read: "PVSD doesn't value teachers." How true. Suzann Zeigler Newbury Park

Zeigler is president of the Pleasant Valley Education Association.