Teachers of the district get three percent raise

The fight for a raise in teacher salaries has finally been successful, and will become effective in the district. There will be a three percent wage increase, which is half of the six percent raise that the teachers wanted. The $1.8 million increase will be spread among teachers in the whole district, but is it really enough to compensate for how our economy is constantly changing?

Many teachers expressed their initial ideas on the three percent raise. “While I am delighted to have a pay raise, our current raise does not match the cost of living increases in the Bay Area,” said English teacher Jennifer Clyde.

“I am happy that our bargaining team worked so hard to get this raise,” said history teacher Mark Mladinich said. “I was satisfied that they did everything in their power to get this raise. Of course it would be nice to have higher than a three percent raise.”

Teachers voted in November and school board members agreed in January to approve the new salary rates.

“We feel that the three percent raise is not enough to keep up with the costs of living in the Bay Area, and more importantly, it is not enough to keep our district competitive with other districts,” history teacher Roger Kim bluntly stated.

The previous lowest salary for a teacher in the CVUSD was $47,970. With the new three percent it will come up to $49,409, an increase of $1,439.11.

The highest salary previously offered (for those with 27 years of service) was $95,084. With the increase, that will rise by $2,852 to $97,937.40.

Many teachers worry that the raise will not cover the rise of their living costs.  “This raise will just barely cover the combined cost of recent increases in my rent and Kaiser premium,” Clyde said.

“Our district does not even fully cover benefits for one person on the cheapest health plan while San Ramon will cover your entire family,” Kim remarks. “I pay over $200 a month on top of what the district covers just for health insurance for myself. A Castro Valley teacher that needs to cover a whole family with health benefits will have to pay thousands of dollars extra a month to do so.”