Pasadena Teachers Union Members Rally at City Hall

Less than five days before their next bargaining session this week, nearly 200 members of United Teachers of Pasadena (UTP) held a rally on Saturday in front of City Hall asking the Pasadena Unified School District for a satisfactory raise and an improvement in working conditions, especially for Special Education teachers.

“We’re making sure that we have the safety and working conditions that support our teachers,” said UTP President Jonathan Gardner, “and we want to make sure that the students have the learning environment that they need to be able to succeed.” 

Gardner said that the Union members are asking for a salary increase to make them “competitive with our neighboring school districts and make sure that we have language to support safe and empowering working conditions for our teachers as well as for the learning environment for our students.”

According to Gardner, compared to the closest ten comparable school districts in terms of size and location, Pasadena is second from the bottom and 12% out of the middle market rate, in terms of salary. 

“So that’s what our ask is for,” he said,  “and the district has been gradually moving toward what we feel is fair and what’s actually going to get us competitive and kind of stop the bleeding.” 

Gardner claimed that the district has “had dozens of teachers just leaving even since the beginning of this year, and we need that to stop because that’s bad for kids as well as the fellow teachers because of the fact that we always have to retrain new people. Students get stuck with a long-term sub for a long time. They get that constant transition that’s just really hard for them.”

Bethel Lira, UTP bargaining chairperson, told members that PUSD principals have said that they lose “more and more applicants when applicants learn that they can make more money in other school districts.”

“PUSD shouldn’t be a training ground, “ she said, “Our teachers shouldn’t be looking over their shoulders in search of better opportunities elsewhere.” 

PUSD is being represented at the bargaining table by  Dr. Sergio Canal, Chief Human Resources Officer; Dr. Helen Chan Hill, Acting Chief Academic Officer; Dr. Jen Alcazar, Director of Human Resources; Lori Touloumian, Principal, Marshall Fundamental; and Maricela Brambila, Principal, Willard Elementary.

The UTP’s bargaining team members are Lira, Gardner, and Nathan Banditelli, California Teachers Association; Stephanie Kaul, Teacher, San Rafael; Lisa Collins, School Nurse, PHS; and Michael To, Special Education Teacher, Blair IB.

In an October 27 update, PUSD offered two separate proposals, which the District described as a ‘Total Financial Package’ of 8.95% and 2% one-time bonus, including:

• ?  8% salary schedule increase;
• ?  0.95% District-absorbed increase cost to health and welfare benefits;
• ?  2% one-time salary bonus;
• ?  Increase of $500 to Special Education Stipends, from $2,500 to $3,000 annually;
• ?  A commitment to revise the salary schedule for Early Childhood Education teachers.
• With regard to  Safety and Working Conditions, the District also offered:
• ?  Language related to the provision of essential equipment for instruction and safety;
• ?  Provision of an emergency kit to all PUSD classrooms and workspaces with items necessary during an emergency lockdown;
• ?  Protocols for District response in the event of malfunctioning HVAC units that result in unhealthy conditions for students and staff;
• ?  Provisions for the repair of faulty equipment in a timely manner;
• ?  Access to a working telephone and intercom or two-way radio for all classrooms and workspaces;
• ?  Ready access to site and student safety plans;
• ?  Guidelines related to the loss or theft of District technology equipment.

School board members Patrice Marshall Mckenzie, Tina Fredericks, and Dr. Yarma Velázquez were at the rally. Velázquez told Pasadena Now, “We are in support of all of our workers. We want all of our teachers and staff to be happy working at Pasadena Unified.”

McKenzie said of the negotiations, “It’s an ongoing process, and we’re hoping that at the conclusion, that our members , our employees, and all of our bargaining units, will have contracts that honor their work, their dignity, and compensate them appropriately.”

Fredericks said in a statement following the rally that,”Teachers are the number one factor in student achievement, including for reading and math.  In order to attract and maintain high quality teachers, especially amidst the staff shortage crisis in public education, we must ensure we offer  competitive salaries, so we don’t lose our teachers to neighboring districts.”

Fredericks added, “Prioritizing our students means prioritizing our teachers and staff. Our budget is a reflection of our values. Let’s revisit our budget to identify ongoing over-budgeting in specific areas, so we can free up funds for ongoing raises to keep our teachers, and finally pay teachers what they deserve.”

The two sides are scheduled for another bargaining session on Thursday, November 9.