The hope is that everyone who chooses to work with children in the school system does so because they are passionate about student success. This passion extends well beyond the paycheck. There is a pride that goes along with being a teacher and knowing you influence children's lives and set them along a path of independence, confidence and accomplishment.

Rio School District has many of these passionate teachers and administrators, yet has suffered Academic Performance Index scores below its capabilities and is at impasse with its teachers' union. (API measures schools' academic performance and growth on various academic measures.) As a district, we are working to remedy both issues, while empowering our students to be lifelong learners. Every day, I believe more and more that we can have high academic achievement and a supportive relationship with the teachers' union because I have witnessed a transformation in similar districts.

When I joined the San Gabriel Valley area district in 1999, several schools had API scores in the 400s, and now, even with moderate salaries, all but three of the 26 schools are high-performing. Four are Blue Ribbon schools, 16 are California Distinguished Schools and several are high-performing Title I schools. During the transformation period, this district was one of the lowest-paying districts in the San Gabriel Valley and most of Los Angeles County.

By contrast, the Rio School District is offering its teachers a beginning salary (for first-year teachers with a bachelor's degree, credential and no experience) that is nearly $41,000, with a 3.3 percent increase and the restructuring of our salary schedule. Additionally, our offer includes covering 100 percent of the healthcare insurance costs worth another $11,475 per year for each teacher and his or her family. This is guaranteed, despite rising costs of healthcare and health insurance. Anyone who has purchased insurance will recognize what a huge benefit this is for our teachers and their families.

My peers in other districts tell me of teachers committed to participating in professional development, working with parents and in after-school intervention programs, even during times of difficult negotiations. In these cases, the teachers' dedication was supported by the union leadership, who understood that high performance provides dignity, district pride and the professionalism essential to school reform.

The Rio School District administrators and our board of trustees are working hard during this challenging time to keep pushing ahead school reform and student success. I know the teachers in the union share our goals for our students, and together we have the potential to surpass the successes of my former district and others just like it.

— Monalisa Hasson is the assistant superintendent of the human resources division at the Rio School District in Oxnard.