Will Yucaipa be next?
You can learn more about the situation in Hayward and lend some words of encouragement by visiting their blog:
http://haywardteacherstogether.blogspot.com/
Community support for the strike is strong. According to a poll by a local television station, 85% of parents in the community support the teachers going on strike.
Link to News Story
News coverage from the picket lines show parents pulling their children out of school when learning that schools are lacking substitutes despite $300 day pay for substitute teachers.
Link to video
612 days without a settlement!
7 comments:
I've always considered striking to be the "nuclear option", but a credible threat can sometimes only be maintained by action. I hope that our colleagues in Hayward have a swift and agreeable end to this unfortunate necessity. How lucky they are to have strong community support. Hopefully the powers that be in our district watch developments in Hayward carefully! Maybe, just maybe, they'll learn something.
this comment does not relate to Hayward - however - when a school board member wants a certain person hired in the district - the DO Admin will pull the suggestion from the agenda and hire the friend of of the school board member. This does happen more often than you might realize. And if a site principal supports a teacher - the principal is concered not loyal, etc.
The comment about the board hand picking employees raises some serious concerns. A person with ties to the board and the community is less likely to support those who oppose the board. There has been a trend of late to bring in young teachers who were born and raised in Yucaipa. I do not know of any of these teachers who are strong supporters of the union (please shout back if you are!), and many of them have a "go along to get along" attitude. Administrators who are hand-picked by the board are completely beholden to them, and will do little to support teachers. So, another challenge we all face is the culture of teachers in this community. I am a registered Republican, and no great fan of unions in general, yet in this case I see no other group who is willing to give our teachers the respect they deserve. To quote an old Arab proverb, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".
Speaking of administrators who a beholden to the board - did you hear about the banquet that some of them are "catering" for the board next week? ALL of the adminstrators, regardless of level of support, are being put in a position where they HAVE to show public support, as well as financial support. How awkward to be FORCED to do it. We have dissention in YCEA, but we don't FORCE people to support our side. We know there are admninistrators who support US, but fear for their jobs. How sad.
Can we picket the banquet?
It was encouraging to see some "new" faces at the YCEA meeting at YHS today. We are at a turning point: Either we get what is fair, or we roll over for a very, very long time. If we don't hold the line this time, any future threat we make will be correctly perceived by the Board as an empty one.
Obviously I hope that our community clues into the consequences of continued "see no evil", namely a strike. Let's continue to educate the public wherever we can, wear our buttons, and generally behave as concerned ambassadors.
Stick together YCEA!
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