MUSD certificated employees will receive a 9% salary increase after the Board of Education unanimously passed a settlement negotiated with the Milpitas Teachers Association (MTA), according to the disclosure agreement presented by Jonathan Brunson, the Assistant Superintendent of Human Relations. The compensation package was presented during an Oct. 25 School Board meeting, which included, among other provisions, a Health and Welfare cap increase and a one-time bonus of $2,000 for new hires achieving permanent working status, according to the agreement.
Negotiations happen once a year, with pay increases for teachers being a common occurrence, according to MHS representative in the MTA, Brett Webber. However, Webber said the 9% figure was out of the ordinary.
“I think the size of the pay rate – 9% – is unheard of. It surprised a lot of teachers. Two years ago we got 4%, and then last year we got 5%, so four (or) five is the expectation. Nine? People are very happy,” Webber said.
The pay increase for teachers originated from California possessing more money to allocate to public school districts, Webber explained.
According to calmatters.org, California “produced a discretionary surplus of almost $49 billion,” and a portion of that money must be spent on public education by law.
Because the negotiation was successful, teachers will feel an impact, Webber said.
“It is a sign of respect that we got this pay raise,” Webber said. “New teachers are very excited because they started with a salary that they agreed to, but all of a sudden, that salary jumped by 9% … so the response has, overwhelmingly, been positive,” Webber said.
MTA President Diana Orlando praised the cooperation between the teachers union and the school district.
“Although we don’t always see eye to eye, we find a way to come to the middle, and that’s why we have a win-win situation,” Orlando said. “What I think I’m most proud of, is that our beginning teachers will now be about $75,000 to $78,000, and if they have a master’s, they’ll be even closer to $80,000,” Orlando said.
The negotiation was a bittersweet moment for Orlando, she concluded.
“It’s a bargaining session. Did we get everything we want? No. Did we find it a fair offer? We settled, so yes, we did,” Orlando said.
English teacher Audrey Yang said she was happy to get the 9% raise.
“I’m super appreciative of the union for, you know, fighting for that,” Yang said. She hesitated to call the raise, “the best thing ever because it’s very competitive and difficult to live in the Bay Area. I hope people can start seeing these kinds of pay raises as the norm … for what it’s going to take for teachers to stay in the South Bay,” Yang said.
Yang’s fellow teachers had positive feelings towards the teachers union for advocating their needs, and that the profession touches everyone’s lives, Yang said.
“I almost wish that our union wouldn’t have to fight that hard, (that) these individual teachers wouldn’t have to come together … to put in that much effort for the profession to be respected,” Yang stated.
Math teacher, Mimi Nguyen, said that she and her colleagues were appreciative of the increase, noting its rarity.
“I was pretty excited. I tried to calculate how much that would mean for me, like how much I would be making a year … I think this was the first time we’ve heard 9%, so that’s why we were really thrilled about it,” Nguyen said.
The Bay Area is still a region of high prices, which continues to affect Nguyen’s personal life, she said.
“Everything has gotten so expensive recently. … It would be so hard to afford an apartment on my own in the Bay. For me, I’m always more fortunate than someone else, you know? Who wouldn’t want more, right? But also at the same time, I’m happy with what I have,” Nguyen said.