Union City Teacher Contract Talks

UNION CITY, CA — The New Haven Unified School District, which operates the public schools in Union City, is currently negotiating a new contract with the teachers union, the New Haven Teachers Association. The school district has released the following statement about the talks:

The New Haven Unified School District (NHUSD) wants the same things our teachers want. First and foremost, we want our students to learn in the very best educational environments and to be provided with as many opportunities as possible. We also want optimal working conditions. While our interests often go hand in hand, they do sometimes diverge due to the scope of our responsibilities. The District has an obligation to this community to balance various compelling needs with budget realities to maintain fiscal solvency, and to protect our students from adult disputes regarding the allocation of funds. We take our responsibilities to our students, our employees and our community very seriously. With the significant shortage of funding education receives from the State, and with the NHUSD suffering from significant declining enrollment over the past 10 years, we are often faced with the need to make very difficult choices about the allocation of limited resources.

You have likely seen recent discussions about our negotiations with the New Haven Teachers Association (NHTA) in social and other forms of media. In today’s world of unverified news and information, we understand how challenging it can be to discern factual information from opinion.

Budgeting and accounting processes for school districts are complex and can be confusing especially to people outside of education. Questions often do not lend themselves to simple answers. A complicating factor when discussing school finances is that school districts must submit budgets for three years at a time (the current year and the two out years). Having to balance three years against a single year ending balance can give the appearance of having more money than we actually have. Although the process can be confusing, it is incumbent upon the District to ensure that the community understands this. The District will provide you verifiable and accurate information to keep you informed about decisions that impact our students, staff and community. As such, this communication addresses two frequently referenced discussions.

One such discussion is about class sizes and working conditions. While there is much debate in academia over to what extent class sizes make a difference in student achievement, the District supports the idea that reduced class sizes contribute to improved working conditions. We believe smaller class sizes help teachers, and consequently, improve learning environments for students. The challenge is that improving working conditions through reducing class size comes with a significant price tag. In total, reducing average class sizes by just one student across all levels would cost the District at least $1 million.

The second frequently referenced discussion has to do with teacher salaries. Yes, we value our employees and have a long history of increasing their compensation so that our District remains at or near the top in the county for total employee compensation. A number of years ago, when the District and the State were experiencing budget shortfalls during the Recession, all employee groups agreed to take furlough days and a pay cut; teachers, administrators, and classified. By way of the new funding formula which took effect in 2013-14, the District is proud that, over the last four years, we were able to give our employee groups significant raises. During that time, teachers and administrators received a cumulative total of 10% in ongoing salary increases. Our classified employees’ pay increase was slightly larger.

Last year’s settlement of a 2% ongoing salary increase, a $600 one-time payment and a compression of the salary schedule from 32 years to 29 (teachers can reach the highest salary in 29 years instead of 32) was one of the most competitive offers in our county for that year and continues the trend of our teachers being at or near the top of the list for compensation. In addition, many of our employees receive annual pay increases for step and column movement and longevity for additional years of service and professional development.

In addition to staffing our schools at the levels agreed to between the District and NHTA, the District is considering additional cost-saving measures such as

• furlough days for all administrators,
• staffing to contractual limits for counselors,
• reducing administrative positions,
• reducing classified positions,
• continuing with the freeze on new hiring,
• eliminating all non-mandatory and non-grant funded professional development not directly related to a curriculum adoption, and
• reducing and scaling back task force efforts related to transforming middle schools and the implementation of Ethnic Studies district-wide.

Given that the State’s Cost of Living proposal of 3.46% for 2019-2020 will more or less be negated by NHUSD’s revenue loss of (1.56%) and cost increases of about 1.84%, based on the District’s First Interim Budget Update, we begin the budgeting conversation under the cloud of deficit spending. Our challenge is not in identifying what we value as a district, but rather in choosing how to best allocate limited resources to reflect our values.

Last summer, the non-partisan organization, West Ed, published a report called the “Silent Recession: Why California School Districts are Under Water Despite Increases in Funding.” The report details the very same issues that school districts are challenged with across the state, namely: risings costs, declining enrollment, declining revenue, and a lack of state funding to cover the shortfalls. In addition, KTVU News recently shared the following story about Bay Area teachers compensation. We share this with you so that you know the same financial challenges facing NHUSD are taking place in many, many school districts throughout the state and set the stage for contentious negotiations with employee groups.

We want what our employees want. We want what is best for students. We also want to protect the long term financial health of this District so that we do not end up like other high profile districts that are now unable to get their budgets approved without making draconian cuts. Moreover, we want the State of California to prioritize education and stop pitting local school districts and their employees against each other in order to do what is right for students.

We realize that communication is crucial during this time of uncertainty and we will update you regularly. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the complexities of our situation. We are happy to answer your questions and appreciate your comments. You can email us at news@nhusd.k12.ca.us.

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