What about Calexico?

Downtown Calexico:
A few years ago YCJUSD searched far and wide to come up with districts to "compare" our salaries with.

If they do this again, they're going to have to search a bit farther to come up with districts that pay lower than Yucaipa. They'll definitely have to cross Calexico off the list.

Here's how the salaries now compare:

• 1st year teacher with 30 units: Yucaipa-$39,250 Calexico-$40,413
• Step 5, 45 units: Yucaipa-$49,478 Calexico-$50,517
• Step 13, 60 units: Yucaipa-$67,887 Calexico-$68,558

571 Days Without a Settlement!

Teacher Job Fair - Tuesday, March 6

The University of Redlands will be hosting a teacher job fair on Tuesday, March 6 from 3:00 to 5:00 in the Orton Center. A large number of Inland Empire school districts are expected to be there.

Rumor has it that Yucaipa will not be there. Could it be that the administration is ashamed of having the LOWEST salary schedule for beginning teachers? Is the administration afraid that they face the uncomfortable position of seeing their own teachers at the fair seeking employment elsewhere? We'll never know!

According to a comment left on this blog last week, a group of YHS teachers are planning a happy hour at Jose's in Yucaipa after they attend the fair. All Yucaipa teachers, whether they attend the job fair or not, are invited to attend.

570 Days Without a Settlement!

What Kind of Legacy Will Dr. Hovey Leave?

When Dr. Hovey leaves Y-CJUSD, and we know he's trying to leave by the published newspaper articles of him applying to other districts, what will his legacy be?

Will he have resolved the legitimate concerns the City of Calimesa has and get Mesa View open or will Mesa View remain a ghost school?

Will he have attracted a new generation of high quality teachers to the district or will the district continue to struggle to attract new teachers with the lowest salaries in the Inland Empire?

Will he have the loyalty and respect of the administrators, teachers and classified staff working under him or will they be celebrating his departure?

We'll just have to wait and see.

569 Days Without a Settlement!

You Want Some Facts?

Let's talk about salary comparisons. When a fact-finder looks at the information presented by the two sides, by law, one of the criteria is comparison. Yucaipa-Calimesa is in a "comparison group" with 14 other districts, all of whom are in the Inland Empire area, and are "unified" districts (K-12). Our comparison districts are: Alvord, Banning, Beaumont, Chino Valley, Colton, Corona-Norco, Fontana, Hemet, Jurupa, Moreno Valley, Redlands, Rialto, Riverside, and San Bernardino.

As of this date, let's look at 5 "benchmarks" on the salary schedules.

At BA - Step 1, YCJUSD pays $35,170. That's 15th out of 15. Dead last.

At BA + 30 units with a credential, YCJUSD pays $39,250. 15th out of 15. Dead last.

BA + 45 units, Step 5: YCJUSD pays $49,478. 15th out of 15. Dead last.

BA + 60 units, Step 10: YCJUSD pays $61,750. 15th out of 15. Dead last.

"Super Max," or the maximum salary a teacher could possibly make: YCJUSD pays $78,834. 15th out of 15. Dead last.

Now for the most important fact: If you add on the District's "last, best" offer, which equals approximately 6.5% over two years, WE'D STILL BE LAST!!!!!!!

How do you argue with those facts?

568 Days Without a Settlement!

"Let's Start Being Truthful..."

Excuse me? Now we're being accused of being untruthful?

One of the joys of owning your own blog is you get to moderate comments - meaning you get to decide whether or not a comment is going to appear. Well, the blog committee just rejected its first comment. But we WILL respond to some of it, since it would be hypocritical to complain about censorship by the District (regarding its blocking our blog from its server), and then turn around and censor someone who clearly disagrees with us.

In response to the post and comments about the artificial turf project at YHS:

"The board asking for bids does not mean that they are going through with the football field project." Well, yes it does.

"Where did we get the information that the high school principal donated $10,000 a year to this project?" That rumor, posted in the comments section, didn't come from the blog committee. But you need to know that Mr. Cavanagh OFFERED to donate $10,000 from discretionary account at the February 20 board meeting.

"This board was not elected to do the bidding of the teachers." Yup, we'll agree with you there. But they WERE elected to do the bidding of the electorate, which expects an employer to treat its employees well, to compensate them fairly for the work they do, and to ensure they have the facilities, supplies, and other important resources to do the work they do.

"They were elected to do the bidding of the students." No, they weren't.

"Who should be the priority here? Students or teachers?" We won't argue with the concept that students should be a priority. But we're not talking about writing checks to students, we're talking about providing students with experienced, educated, talented teachers. Now that our salary schedule has us at the BOTTOM of our comparison districts at all 6 major benchmarks, attracting those teachers is next-to-impossible. Keeping them is also hard - once Redlands makes its hiring decisions, you'll see some pretty key staff members at one school disappear. It's not official yet, but they're GONE.

"Let's start being truthful and things will get better." We think you're talking to the wrong folks. Send that comment over to the District.

PS:

567 Days Without a Settlement!

Who might have this hanging up in their office?

If you were making $600/hour you could probably afford a very, very nice frame for it.