School staff rallies for pay raise

Teachers and classified staff members have been in negotiation with the Castro Valley Unified School District for six months about receiving a pay raise. The district has offered a three percent raise so far and the teachers are hoping for more.

The teachers are frustrated, stating that they feel three percent isn’t enough and they want the district to raise it to five percent.

On Oct. 23, the unions held a rally on Santa Maria Avenue with at least 100 staff members and talked about reasons why they want better pay.

“The biggest problem is the salary and medical benefits. There has been little progress made with negotiations,” said Arlene Cristobal, president of the local California School Employees Association, which represents classified employees like secretaries and custodians.

Other changes they would like to be made are improved services for special education students, guaranteed student access to school nurses, and established elementary counseling programs, said John Green, president of the Castro Valley Teachers Association.

“Asking for a five percent raise instead of three percent isn’t asking for too much. Every year, we’re losing money working for the district. The medical benefits have only raised one percent since 2007,” said Cristobal.

Medical benefits and pay are the two issues teachers and other workers are the most focused on. Castro Valley teachers make between $44,000 and $87,000 in base salary, depending on length of service. The costs for health benefits have consistently gone up from five to 12 percent every year, according to the unions.

CVUSD holds a reserve of $13.5 million, which is six times more than what they need by law, the unions said.

Staff members are concerned that it is becoming harder to support their families and to afford their health benefits. Some pay more than $1,000 per month to insure their families, teachers said.

    There was another negotiation scheduled for Oct. 29.

In addition to pay and health benefits, the district and unions are negotiating hours of employment and leaves, said Assistant Superintendent Sherri Beetz.

“We’ve made a lot of headway with both unions around contract language. The main sticking points right now are financial,” said Beetz.