Calexico teachers to opt out of some school activities as salary negotiations stall
- News 11's Wiley Jawhary reports
CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Teachers with the Calexico Unified School District have announced that they will not be conducting certain duties for the upcoming school year after negotiations for a higher pay have failed.
Calexico teachers have been demanding a pay raise since June 9. The district did offer then a 14% increase, however teachers say they feel offended by this. They say it's simply because it's not enough.
"We feel like it was offensive and disrespectful and as a result of that some of the members are opting not to do extra duties that are beyond contract hours," Juan Rodriguez, a teacher in Calexico said.
Some of those duties include curriculum planning, tutoring, coaching and after school detentions.
Field trips, and parent teacher conferences are among duties, teachers say, they perform, but don't get paid for. They're also among the duties some teachers will stop doing.
Rodriguez has been a teacher for 30 years. He also sits on the teachers union negotiating team. He says he's fighting for more than higher pay. He's battling to bring more quality teachers to the Valley.
"Our goal is to attract and retain qualified teachers to be serving the students of Calexico," he said.
Salary negotiations between the Associated Calexico Teachers (ACT) and school district have been ongoing since the 2017-2018 school year.
The ACT says CUSD pays the lowest salaries in the area. The union says its teachers earn slightly more than $46,000 a year, while those at the El Centro Elementary School District start in the area of $62,000.
Rodriguez explains that the bulk of that percentage applies to a one-time payment as opposed to the ongoing salary. He also says that teachers aren’t calling this a strike, but a heightened effort to continue negotiations.
“I hope we get on the same page and think about the students that are out there and how we want to better serve the students,” he said.
At the end of all this it seems that students are the ones who will be paying the price. Teachers are holding onto hope that a reasonable agreement can be reached. We reached out to the district for comment but we have yet to hear back.
