Covered by Savan Bollu, and Paarth Gupta.
The MUSD Board of Education unanimously approved a 4% compensation increase for certificated staff for the 2023-24 school year, among other tentative agreements in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The vote took place at the board meeting on Feb. 13.
Prior to this agreement between the district and the Milpitas Teachers’ Association (MTA), many MTA union members attended the Jan. 9 board meeting to urge the district for a better compensation increase than what was originally proposed. Over 100 teachers attended, MTA president and Rancho Milpitas Middle School physical education (PE) teacher Clarissa Isbell said.
“What we proposed was met with something much lower than it should have been,” Isbell said. “I’ve been on the negotiation team for a long time, and we felt that they were, what we call, ‘lowballing’ us—going really low.”
MTA worked with the California Teachers Association (CTA) to analyze district finances and believes “the district is manipulating the budget,” MTA Vice President of Secondary and lead negotiator Brett Webber said.
“There is a practice of moving money into restricted accounts that creates an illusion that we can’t afford to pay teachers a reasonable wage,” Isbell said in a public comment at the Jan. 9 board meeting.
The district typically spends $3-4 million on the Books and Supplies portion of the annual budget, Isbell said. However, this year, the district budgeted $25 million for Books and Supplies, which is a “red flag,” she added. Overall, the district has a $27 million surplus carried over from last year, Isbell said.
“We want them to understand that we know that there’s money, so the offer they had given us that was really low was unacceptable,” Isbell said.
The Books and Supplies category is like a “holding account” for unspent state grants earmarked for specific purposes that can’t be used for compensation increases, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Wendy Zhang said. Last year’s surplus was primarily due to an influx of this state-provided money, and the district is developing a long-term spending plan, Zhang added.
“There is a particular resource code attached with each funding, and we’re supposed to use those funds to spend on either supporting student learning or maybe on staff development,” Zhang said. “There’s a specific need attached with the spending, so we’re not supposed to use this for salary negotiations.”
Instead, compensation increases come from unrestricted funds in the district’s reserves, Zhang said. During negotiations, Zhang analyzes the budgetary implications of proposed wage increases to keep the district “financially safe and sound,” she added.
“I appreciate them (teachers) going to the board meeting to share because I think this is the good thing about Milpitas—we have a channel for staff, for people to share their opinions,” Zhang said. “Sometimes, we might not always see things eye to eye, but we’re done with negotiations with them (MTA). We were able to meet in the middle and then move forward.”
MTA Proposed a “Conservative” Raise
MTA and MUSD negotiate compensation increases every year based on annual state funding, Webber said. Last year, the district received a 12% ongoing increase in state funding from various programs and, therefore, was able to provide a 9% compensation increase for teachers, Webber said.
Next year, California will be running on a deficit, which will impact district funding and cause budget reductions, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.
“We’re going to have to do some cost management and evaluate some of the positions that we have and possibly put those on hold,” Jordan said.
In light of the projected deficit, MTA was “conservative” while proposing a raise to ensure that teachers aren’t laid off or don’t face unexpected wage cuts next year, Isbell said.
MTA never intends to put the district in financial hardship, Webber said.
“That goes against our philosophy completely because, who does it hurt? The students,” Webber said. “Our primary focus is always, ultimately, the education of our students.”
Out of the 74.4% of MTA members who participated in voting, 98.7% voted to ratify the updated CBA, including the 4% compensation increase, according to Webber.
“We would not have settled if we thought it wasn’t a fair tentative agreement,” Isbell said. “So we’re very happy with it.”
Wages and Teacher Retention
A wage increase is crucial to ensuring the district attracts and retains teachers and compensates them adequately for their efforts, Webber said.
“I want my students to get the best education that is possible,” Webber said. “If there is a district that’s paying $15-16,000 more than we are, our good teachers are going to be able to get a job there.”
In addition to state funding, school districts receive local funding from property taxes, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.
Because Milpitas has lower home prices and property taxes compared to cities like Palo Alto, MUSD receives less community-based funding than them, Jordan said.
“We do, on occasion, lose people (teachers) to Palo Alto, Santa Clara Unified, Fremont Union High School District, and other community-funded school districts because they can pay more,” Jordan said. “But there’s no way we could ever pay that much unless we became community-funded.”
Due to high costs of living, MUSD has attrition rates ranging from 6-10%, which is why the board makes efforts to recruit and retain educators, Jordan added.
“All of our educators, especially our teachers in the classrooms, have done a lot of extraordinary work since coming through COVID (…) as far as making up gaps for learners’ academic achievement as well as learners’ social-emotional development,” Jordan said. “I really appreciate the work that they do, and to the best of our ability, we will do what we can to compensate them.”
A Good Working Relationship
MTA’s presence at the Jan. 9 board meeting made “quite a statement,” especially since over 100 teachers attended on short-notice after a break, Isbell said.
“This time, we felt we needed to show our solidarity as a union, just to say, ‘Look, we’re here, look at us. We know that you value us as teachers, so just remember who you’re giving your raise to,” Isbell said.
The district board and MTA maintain a good working relationship, Isbell said.
“I just feel very lucky to be in a district where the management side listens to us and not everything is confrontational,” Isbell said.
Considering that next year’s Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) projection is under 1%, the 4% compensation increase is a “good compromise,” English teacher Skyler Draeger said. Draeger was previously an MHS administrator on the district’s compensation negotiation team, but is now an MTA member and attended the Jan. 9 board meeting, he said.
“Regardless of the side we’re on, we’re all Milpitas Unified; it’s our district; it’s our home,” Draeger said. “We’re here to support our school, our kids, and our district.”
The board understands both sides and works with employees while remaining fiscally responsible, School Board President Minh Ngo said.
“Teachers are always going to advocate for themselves—more power to them,” Ngo said. “As a district, we continue to work together to make sure that we provide the best educational opportunities for our students, and that starts with the people in the classrooms.”