Be fair to teachers
The Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District is risking a great deal in its continued conflict with teachers. In the absence of a fair offer, Yucaipa is losing wonderful teachers, and it is no longer the progressive workplace where new graduates are eager to begin a teaching career. It is past time for the district to offer teachers the full cost-of-living adjustment settlement the district has been banking since July 2005, when the last contract expired.
A public school is not a business, and the funds distributed by the state are meant to be spent, not hoarded. The students and teachers of Yucaipa deserve better.
Parents, look beyond the "spin" you are hearing. The facts are that the teachers to whom we entrust our children every day are very dissatisfied, and they have been working without a contract for more than 620 days. This demonstrates extreme patience and loyalty.
The good results demonstrated in the district are not an accident; they are the result of the hard work of teachers, students and site administrators. As state fact-finding approaches, let the school district and board know you expect this impasse to be resolved. Our children deserve highly qualified, fairly compensated teachers.
KATHRYN ELLIOTT
We sincerely thank Kathryn for the time she took to wrote this letter and submit it to the Press-Enterprise. We also thank the editorial staff of the Press-Enterprise for being fair and objective.
In Other News: Gerald Bean, publisher of the Yucaipa News-Mirror, was recently honored by the school administrators association for the News-Mirror's "support of education in the community." You can read the entire text of the article (and find out about two YCJUSD administrators who were also honored) here:
Congratulations Hayward Teachers for finally reaching a settlement!
3 comments:
Hello Kathryn,
I am writing to you on my first day back in the classroom after our 10 day extraordinarily excruciatingly painful and glorious (yes, both) strike in Hayward. (See You Tube and search: husd strike) Today I am living in a different universe then when we began. I can't explain it in words. I was running on adreneline, fear, hope, dispair and most of all shere and utter determination to stick it out. Fortunately, 98% of my colleagues stayed resoulutely on the picket line. The ace up our sleeve, beyond teacher solidarity, was the unprecedented support and incredible organization of our working class and largely, though not exclusively, latino community. If you can stick together, teachers and community, and you hang on to the belief that you WILL be victorious, you will win. All my prayers and leftover energy are with you. I will continue to monitor your struggle. Oakland teachers took personal and sick days off from work to join us on the picket line. I will do the same for you, if it comes to that. I will also send $ to your strike fund (and raise more from our union members) as so many districts around us did. Keep strong and united, bottom line: eyes on the prize. Your cause is just. In solidarity,
Kate Day
Park Elementary School
Hayward, California
Thanks for your support Kate!
Way to go Kathryn, as always your comments are well timed and well written. Thank you!
Post a Comment