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Parent suggests sickout at Rio School District
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More from Education: K-12A state mediator working with the Rio School District and its teachers union has failed to end their monthslong labor dispute, eliminating any hope of a resolution this year.
With negotiations stalled, some parents of Rio students have gotten involved, including one father at Rio Rosales School who has proposed keeping students home from school for a day in an attempt to force the district to settle.
"Just offer them what they want," Alex Simental said. He has two children who, he said, get concerned when they see their teachers carrying signs and asking for help.
District officials, however, said a "sickout" would disrupt students' education and cost Rio state funding, leaving the K-8 district with less money to bring to the bargaining table.
The Rio Teachers Association declared it had reached an impasse with the district in February, after negotiating sessions failed to bring the two sides close to a new labor agreement.
Representatives from both sides have since met with a state-appointed mediator several times, but the mediator recently announced he will send the dispute to the next stage of impasse, called fact finding.
In fact finding, a panel of representatives from the district, teachers union and a neutral party appointed by the state Public Employment Relations Board works to find a resolution. If a settlement still isn't reached, a neutral chairperson prepares a report, which includes the panel's findings and settlement recommendations.
The recommendations aren't binding, however, and the dispute could continue.
Before the mediation sessions ended, the two sides had made progress on defining contract language related to working conditions, but they continued to disagree on compensation.
The district has offered teachers a 3.3 percent raise effective upon ratification of a labor agreement, and fully paid health benefits. A beginning teacher in the district now earns $39,360 a year and a veteran teacher about $68,500.
District officials have said they also would look at comparable labor agreements in other school districts next year and increase Rio salaries again, if needed, to bring compensation levels up to the median.
Rebecca Barbetti, the Rio Teachers Association president, declined to specify the increase the union wants but said no raise for the 2006-07 school year and a 3 percent raise now, halfway through the 2007-08 school year, is unacceptable. Other Ventura County teachers got 6 percent raises last year, and some have accepted 4 percent raises this year, she said.
"Our offer is basically what we think we can do," Rio Superintendent Sherianne Cotterell said. "Being fiscally irresponsible about what this district is facing isn't going to serve anybody well."
State officials have warned the new year could bring funding cuts to schools as California deals with a possible $14 billion shortfall over the next two years.
Rio also has its own financial issues, Cotterell said, including a nearly seven-year-old legal challenge from a construction firm involved in building a new school. She said she has tried to settle through a mediator three times with no success.
Cotterell said she doesn't want the dispute to hurt students, which is what a sickout would do. It would disrupt education, she said, and cost Rio state funding based on attendance numbers.
Simental said he planned a student sickout for Jan. 11 because he has heard from teachers that the district hasn't been cooperating. He hasn't discussed the issue with district officials and doesn't think they'd be interested in talking to him.
"I'm just a nobody," Simental said, but since coming forward with his idea, he has gotten e-mails thanking him for supporting the teachers.
He also got an e-mail from Charles Weis, county superintendent of schools, asking him to reconsider his plans.
Weis, who was visiting a Rio school and saw a notice Simental posted about the sickout, said he sympathized with the cause but that keeping children out of school violates California law, negatively affects students' learning and could cost the district nearly $180,000 in state funding.
Barbetti said the teachers union has "stayed far away from this activity" and doesn't know the person planning it, but "a child missing a day from school is a concern. It affects their education."
Posted by it_engineer on December 26, 2007 at 6:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Where is the money from the California State Lottery?
Posted by cam80 on December 26, 2007 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Students should not be involved in this adult issue. Don't hurt your child by taking them out of the school on the 11th. They have nothing to do with the issue.
Posted by LoveSantaPaula on December 26, 2007 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I remember reading somewhere that the state Lottery money supplants funding; it does not supplement it. That means that the the Lottery money is not in addition to the funds coming from the state, they are part of the whole package. And because the funds coming from Sacramento are only an estimate (they don't know what the real amount is until usually at the end of the school year), if the state took in less that what was estimated from the Lottery, then school districts must give some money back.
In most school districts, the cost of salaries and benefits is the majority of the budget. I hate to recommend this because I have many friends who are school administrators, but I would take care of paying the teachers first. Then the school districts costs, such as classroom supplies, utilities, etc., then if there is any left over, raises for administrators. BUT the problem with that is that school districts will not be able to attract good administrators. So, it is a double edged sword. However, I am shocked that an experienced classroom teacher is only paid $68,500 per year. According to housing statistics that measure affordability, that is in the low-income bracket. Teaching should be among the best paid professions.
Posted by JEH on December 26, 2007 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The children have very limited school supplies. Parents are required to supply all supplies including the basics like crayons. Field trips are a thing of the past. Parents are required to make donations to help provide these things, and the teachers are arguing that they don’t get a big enough raise????? The education system funding is in trouble and your raises are not the priority, the children are!!!
Posted by bluefairy on December 26, 2007 at 12:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We hear all too much about ways to better your pay and the steps to take to get a raise, but that doesn't work in the public sector. There used to be a time when being a teacher gained respect of others, when making a difference in today's children, tomorrow's future was more important than money. Yes the children are a priority but until parents start raising their children starting at home and not expecting the teachers to do so, our teachers suffer burnout and for no money. Where's the fairness?
Posted by JimTram on December 26, 2007 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Vouchers!
Posted by ironwoman on December 26, 2007 at 4:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If this district is in so much trouble, the State of California needs to step up and help its own. Stop giving money to the prison system and giving criminals everything they want. Give the $$$ to kids that need it to prevent them from going out and committing crimes. Our schools should be first and our kids should be first!!!!
Posted by senor_epiphyte on December 26, 2007 at 7:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Simental is blaming the wrong people for the wrong problem; the teachers are exposing the children to the messages he is concerned about.
The teachers brought the dispute to our impressionable, captive children with their messages and inappropriate attire -- "We Deserve What is Right, Not What is Left" and "Rio Teachers Deserve Respect" on black T-shirts!
I send my children to public school as is their right, HOWEVER, I am angry that the teachers forcibly message one side of the dispute in my child's classroom. Take it to the district, send me a letter, but take my child out of the middle!!!
Posted by elriofreddy on December 26, 2007 at 9:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The teachers at the Rio School District deserve the respect the pay every other teacher in the area is getting. Mr. Simental is correct and parents should start to help the teachers, because many times teachers are blamed for everything that is wrong in society. But teachers also produce good people too with the help of parents. If parents don't then society will crumble more as it is already crumbling around us. How come the public doesn't hear of students bringing knives, marijuana, other kinds of drugs to school, threating teachers with physical violence or sometimes even death. Why don't you take a look at those issues too. These students are all around us, here in The Rio District and across the world. We need to help the teachers by compensating them financially and protecting from dangers of students who to harm them, other students and themselves. Everyone should be ashamed that teachers are been blamed for everything, but your should take a look at they have to deal with day in and day out. Whenever a person tells us they work as a teacher, we always tell them "Oh you are a saint" or "Oh how could handle that". But we never tell them we will support you. When the teachers at the Rio District are asking for a raise, its not because they want to make more than anyone else, they just want to make enough money so they could live in Ventura County and support their families. A teacher with a $68,500 for a 12 month period makes $5708.03 gross (before taxes), $4280.95 a month gross (before taxes), $1070.24 a week gross (before taxes). However 45% (according to the housing industry) of the salary has to be dedicated to a home and bills (Car, student loans and credit cards)$2568.61. The rest is for food and the expenses of the house and taxes. For one person to make it by themselves is hard. This is all for person already working at least 12 years as a teacher. Now imaging a 1st year teacher making only $39,360 a year gross (before taxes), $3302.05 a month gross (before taxes), $825.63 gross (before taxes). I am a proud a parent of two children and a in-law of teacher in the area. Support the teachers and help them give them a raise. If my comments are erased like before, then this paper supports for teachers not to get a raise. Mr. Simenal and all the parents in the Rio School District area you should have a sick out and maybe have more than one. Let the district hear your voice, because I guess they don't want to hear the voice of the teachers. They only hear the sound of the their bank accounts cashing in their checks. The Rio District Superintendent and other people should not be SCROOGES!!!
Posted by SomeonesSister on December 28, 2007 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Teachers PAY throughout the US should be structured based on the Teacher’s own knowledge, experience and effectiveness. A viable entry level pay should be "a living wage" and Cost of Living raises should also be put in place to assure wage stability. Teachers should be "tested" so to speak, periodically so that Merit raises can come into play rewarding the Teacher Individually for their excellence in teaching. (The measure of knowledge the children within their class' attain is one way to determine the quality of teaching). The superiority of Public Schools in the US has been continually declining for years.
I chose Private School for my Daughter as she grew up because of the Ineffectiveness and Low Standards of the Public Schools in my area at the time. My daughter graduated with honors and became a Manager at the business she works at the ripe old age of 23 and her company growth continues at 25. I’m not saying it’s right for everyone, but something to seriously consider. What is more important, a Quality Education or a Public Education where you have to pay for all your child’s educational needs, books, supplies & field trips anyhow. (Those things that were previously covered by our Tax Dollars in Public Schools) Vouchers as someone said, can work. Put your money where it will do the most good for Your Children and not into the pockets of the Public School Administrators. They will only listen to your concerns seriously when you hit them where it hurts them most... In THEIR pockets.
Something to think about.
Posted by informed on January 2, 2008 at 11:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Rio's superintendent continues to throw out the notion of fiscal responsibility. The employees of Rio know about fiscal responsibility and loyalty. During the recent fiscally difficult years district's employees gave the district more than one million dollars from the employee's retirement fund. On top of that the employees lent the district approximately an additional $400,000. The employees did that at a time the district claimed a fiscal need. Now that the State has given the district more than a 12% increase in two years the district is offering less 2% of that money. In the last seven years the Rio School district has received a 25% raise from the state and has put none of that money on the salary scale for its teachers. An unusual way to say thank you for its employee's loyalty.The employees of Rio know about fiscal responsibility and loyalty. During the recent fiscally difficult years district's employees gave the district more than one million dollars from the employee's retirement fund. On top of that the employees lent the district approximately an additional $400,000. The employees did that at a time the district claimed a fiscal need. Now that the State has given the district more than a 12% increase in two years the district is offering less 2% of that money. In the last seven years the Rio School district has received a 25% raise from the state and has put none of that money on the salary scale for its teachers. An unusual way to say thank you for its employee's loyalty.
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